Road to Peace or Bone of Contention? The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Conflict States

Abstract

Ever since its announce­ment in 2013, China's "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) has attracted significant attention from inter­national observers, covering its impact on fields ranging from economic integration to geo­politics. However, the peace and security impli­cations of the BRI have seen comparatively little interest, despite the heavy concentra­tion of BRI-related invest­ments in highly fragile and conflict-­prone environ­ments. This report focuses on BRI projects and their trans­formative impact on conflict dynamics in four of these countries: Pakistan, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Uganda. It also provides some practical suggestions for improving local outcomes and strengthen­ing inter­national co­operation.