China Goes West, to Mixed Reviews

Between 2013 and 2015, as Beijing rolled out the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its subsidiaries like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, there was some enthusiasm in Washington for these initiatives. They were hoped to be a net positive—an opportunity for U.S. businesses as well as a potential source of resources and stability for countries that needed both. Daniel Markey's China's Western Horizon: Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia is both a reflection of how that view has changed and also an effective explanation of why these Chinese initiatives are now seen as problematic and even as contributors to the more competitive "new mood" on China in Washington (p. 171).

In recent years, there have been a number of publications and discussions about the motivations, instruments, and effects of China's endeavors beyond its borders, especially—but not only—through BRI. Markey's book is an important contribution to that collection, adding a perspective on Beijing's Eurasian strategy and the region's responses. The book explores China's growing interest and role in three subregions of continental Eurasia that are often considered in separate silos: South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. In each subregion, Markey chooses one or two countries (Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia) to highlight China's approach as well as the local realities at play. By looking across the silos, this approach has the benefit of allowing the reader to compare and contrast the Chinese efforts and the responses across the broader region.

China's Western Horizon argues that Chinese activities in this region are quantitatively and qualitatively different than in the past and worthy of Washington's attention. Markey asserts that even if the region is a lower priority than China's actions to its east, the United States should not ignore Beijing's westward expansion. He argues that China's increasing presence and influence in continental Eurasia is having an impact in a way that could affect even the broader U.S.-China competition in the future.

On the debate about whether BRI is part of a grand strategic decision or design, Markey seems to conclude that the issue is now largely irrelevant. Regardless of whether "flag followed trade" or the reverse, as presence expands so do interests and impact. As the book outlines, even economic initiatives—as the British government learned with the East India Company in the nineteenth century—can take on a strategic logic of their own, resulting in greater interference in other countries' internal affairs or the deployment of troops abroad. Beijing has done both, despite its earlier professions to do neither.

While Markey explores what Chinese officials and companies are trying to do in Eurasia, he makes a strong case that it is just as crucial to understand the local dynamics and imperatives that shape China's options as well as outcomes in the region. The book vividly describes and analyzes subregional and local realities and their consequences for Chinese efforts. Benefiting from conversations with stakeholders from China and the regional countries studied, as well as first-hand observations, Markey highlights not just the "push" factor from China but the "pull" factor at play in Kazakhstan, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia (i.e., different leaders and constituencies using China for their own purposes). The book is replete with examples of how local actors exercise agency and influence the nature and extent of Chinese activities. Indeed, it begins with a vignette about how the idea of a Chinese role in the construction of the much-discussed deep-water Arabian Sea port of Gwadar originated in Pakistan, not China. However, Markey also outlines the heterogeneity of perspectives toward the increasing presence of Chinese companies, officials, and people in each country. Some of it, he notes, is because the impact of their activities is not uniform; BRI is creating both winners and losers in these countries.

One of the book's most interesting discussions is about the differences between elite and popular views of China in the regional countries. Markey notes the impact of Chinese projects and presence on public perceptions...