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How do strategic narratives shape policy adoption? Responses to China's Belt and Road Initiative

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2020

Carolijn van Noort Open the ORCID record for Carolijn van Noort [Opens in a new window]  and
Thomas Colley
Carolijn van Noort*
Affiliation:
Politics and Public Policy, University of the West of Scotland, London
Thomas Colley
Affiliation:
Defence and International Affairs at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Camberley, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Strategic narratives are increasingly considered important for domestic and international support for foreign policy. However, debate continues about why some strategic narratives successfully shape policy outcomes, while others are rejected. How states construct strategic narratives is well established. We know less about how states appropriate the strategic narratives of others, and the role this plays in policy adoption. Addressing this, we introduce a theoretical framework to trace the relationship between strategic narratives and policy adoption. Its central premise is that a state is more likely to adopt a new policy if it can strategically narrate about it in a way that promises material gain but without undermining its ontological security. We test our framework using states’ responses to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Examining the Second Belt and Road Forum in 2019, we trace how far China's strategic narratives are appropriated by multiple states – Kazakhstan, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States, India, and Mexico. Countries appropriate China's narrative emphasis on connectivity, trade, and prosperity. However, they contest that China's intentions are benign, based on its human rights record, assertive foreign policy, and fears of indebtedness. Finally, we discuss our framework's utility in explaining what makes strategic narratives persuasive in International Relations.

Keywords

ChinaCommunicationConstructivismStrategic NarrativeNarrativeStrategyBelt and RoadOntological Security
Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 39 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British International Studies Association

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135 Ibid., p. 30.

136 Ibid., p. 3.

137 Ibid., p. 19.

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142 Editorial, ‘India signals to boycott’.

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146 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, ‘List of Deliverables’.

147 Mexican Federal Government, ‘Youth of Excellence Scheme of China (Yes China)-Master Program’ (March 2019), available at: {https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/444051/YOUTH_OF_EXCELLENCE_SCHEME_OF_CHINA__YES_CHINA_-MASTER_PROGRAM_2019.pdf} accessed 17 September 2019.

148 Herrera, ‘Mexico and China’.

149 Ibid.

150 Antonio C. Hsiang, ‘Mexico should offer its own apology – to the Chinese-Mexican community’, Mexico News Daily (10 May 2019), available at: {https://mexiconewsdaily.com/opinion/mexico-should-offer-its-own-apology/} accessed 17 September 2019.

151 Dezan Shira & Associates, ‘The Belt & Road Initiative in Mexico & Central America’ (27 May 2019), available at: {https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2019/05/27/belt-road-initiative-mexico-central-america/} accessed 17 September 2019.

152 Ibid.

153 Jesus Centeno, ‘Mexico's Ebrard to harness China's “enormous” trade and investment potential’, Ef (2 July 2019), available at: {https://www.efe.com/efe/english/world/mexico-s-ebrard-to-harness-china-enormous-trade-and-investment-potential/50000262-4013970} accessed 17 September 2019.

154 Antonio C. Hsiang, ‘The Isthmus of Tehuantepec rail line is one that might interest China’, Mexico News Daily (5 July 2018), available at: {https://mexiconewsdaily.com/opinion/its-time-for-mexico-to-pivot-to-china/} accessed 17 September 2019.

155 Centeno, ‘Mexico's Ebrard’.

156 Sanjeev Miglani and Mohamed Junayd, ‘Exclusive: Maldives set to pull out of China free trade deal, says senior lawmaker’, Reuters (19 November 2018), available at: {https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-maldives-politics-china-exclusive/exclusive-maldives-set-to-pull-out-of-china-free-trade-deal-says-senior-lawmaker-idUKKCN1NO10G} accessed 29 October 2019.

157 Simon Mundy and Kathrin Hille, ‘The Maldives counts the cost of its debts to China’, Financial Times (11 February 2019), available at: {https://www.ft.com/content/c8da1c8a-2a19-11e9-88a4-c32129756dd8} accessed 29 October 2019.

158 Eleni Kounalakis, ‘One Belt One Road Subnational Forum’, Californian Government website (25 April 2019), available at: {https://ltg.ca.gov/2019/04/24/one-belt-one-road/} accessed 6 June 2019.

159 Connie Bruck, ‘Inside California's war on Trump’, The New Yorker (26 March 2018), available at: {https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/26/inside-californias-war-on-trump} accessed 4 September 2019.

160 Daniel Andrews, ‘More Jobs and Investment with New Victoria and China Deal’, media release, Premier of Victoria website (25 October 2018), available at: {https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-jobs-and-investment-with-new-victoria-and-china-deal/} accessed 6 June 2019.