China’s Rise: How Is It Impacting the Gulf, Iran, Pakistan and Beyond?

This article argues that OBOR (renamed as the Belt and Road Initiative) is China’s counter-containment strategy. It links development with security by intertwining trade, investment, and infrastructure with a redefined political economy of development and security. Cultural and educational exchanges are folded in as part of the developmental push, and regional connectivity is positioned as a driver of both growth and stability.

OBOR spans 65 countries, 4.4 billion people, and 40% of global GDP. Its architecture is designed to address cultural sensitivities, economic needs, and security concerns of participating states. In doing so, China is reshaping the “new economic geography,” adding security alongside trade, knowledge exchange, technology, and transport costs as a pivotal determinant of development.

China’s approach to scale and infrastructure builds on engineering capacity and political will. As Harvard Professor F. Warren McFarlan notes, “China is a land of engineers—they love to build things and they are very good at it. Their progress on infrastructure projects in the last couple of decades is remarkable.” OBOR is China’s blueprint for reviving the ancient Silk Road into an energized New Silk Road.