The Value Dimension of China’s Belt and Road Initiative as a Determinant of EU-China Relations

This article was influenced by some of the leading thinkers in International Relations from Oxford and Harvard. First, Peter Frankopan, who argued that ‘The west has lost its bearings and is losing its way in a changing world’, and that the future will increasingly be shaped, not by transatlantic connections but rather by what happens along the New Silk Roads, a fact which Europe and the EU need to come to terms with. Second, Yuval Noah Harari, whose recent book outlines three global challenges which can be characterised as enemies of humanity, including nuclear war, climate change and technological disruption. Finally, Henry Kissinger, who wrote that humanity’s greatest and most urgent challenge or ‘the mystery to be overcome’ is how can peoples with ‘divergent historic experiences and values can be shaped into a common order.’ In light of these insights, this paper aims to promote the idea of a “global International society” as set out in Hedley Bull’s Anarchical Society. The paper will thus utilise English School (ES) terms and methods such as “Order”, “Justice” , “International Society” , and the “Pluralist/Solidarist” debate to answer the question. The paper considers EU-China cooperation as the basis for tackling these global trends, by identifying the determinants of the relationship, and the ability of both sides to work together based on shared values and goals, as well as the implications globally.