Acta Universitatis Danubius. Relationes Internationales, Vol 11, No 2 (2018)

Abstract

The paper examines the steady rise of China in the international system vis-a-vis the gradual retreat (looking inwards) of the United States of America as the global hegemon faced with enormous strategic uncertainty. Unequivocally, the international system is characterized by an endless and relentless struggle for power, hence, the possibility of a power switch between great powers in the system. Using library research method, aided by textual analysis of secondary data, the paper interrogates the normative changes in China’s foreign policy, from the building of global institutions that can rival the post-war II institutions, to the building of burgeoning partnerships with its neighbours. It contends that China’s one belt one road initiative is a significant structural strategy to advance a new global order, thus; it signals a more assertive China in its foreign policy, from risk aversion to risk embracing. The paper concludes that the ‘one belt one road’ initiative if actualized, has serious global geopolitical and geo-economics significances as well as a grand ploy to re-edit the global order and further Chinese spheres of influence and interest in the international system.