A Comparative Comparison of Geopolitical Competition in China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Gateway Plan of the European Union

پژوهش ‎های جغرافیای سیاسی

Article 8, Volume 8, Issue 4 - Serial Number 32, March 2024, Pages 161-187   

Document Type: مقالات علمی -پژوهشی

DOI: 10.22067/pg.2023.85250.1253

Authors

Yashar Zaki^{* 1}; Javad Gholami²

¹Associate Professor of Political Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

²M.A. in Political Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The essence and nature of geopolitics is inextricably linked with power. All countries compete with each other in multiple systems crystallized from geopolitical theories for survival and promotion in the hierarchical structure of power. China since 2013. And following the rapid economic growth, in order to strengthen his position in the new world order, he launched an initiative called "New Silk Road" or "Belt and Road Initiative" and in the years after that, with maximum effort, he pursued the conquest of this project in It is a universal rule. The joining of many countries to this plan, along with the growing power of China, has caused the concern of other world powers as well. Therefore, to compete with this project, the European Union proposed the "World Gate Plan" and is looking for its planning and implementation. This issue has caused the formation of a geopolitical competition at the international level. The current research with an analytical-explanatory nature by studying the documents of the mentioned plans along with other Persian and Latin sources with a qualitative research method seeks to investigate the geopolitical competition between the mentioned plans. The findings of the research show that the creators of these geopolitical plans with global networking and focusing on ports and seas and the energy issue seek to develop their values on a global scale. After examining the differences and commonalities of the projects and the challenges ahead, it was determined that "the strategic depth of the geopolitical competition of both projects is the African continent".

Keywords

Geopolitical competition; Belt and Road Initiative; Global Gateway; China; European Union

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