The geoeconomics of infrastructures: viewing globalization and global rivalry through a lens of infrastructural competition

ABSTRACT

In the current triad competition between the US, the EU, and China, globalization-relevant infrastructures serve both as the means and ends of conflicts. This paper asks how this historical constellation of geoeconomic competition has changed the infrastructure policy of its centers. Its political-economic perspective discusses infrastructures not just in terms of their strategic instrumentalization, but also of their role in global production and geoeconomic competition. It underlines how infrastructures serve as fixes that counteract internal crisis dynamics and allow for an expansion of productive activity. The paper undertakes an empirical comparison of the triad centers’ central infrastructural measures and flagship projects. The results highlight a shared reorientation towards infrastructure policy that is driven by internal crisis dynamics and external competition over contested markets. Yet, it also reveals the varieties of infrastructural approaches as regards political objectives, modes of policy-making, and the role of national businesses.

KEYWORDS:

• BRI
• globalization
• infrastructure
• geoeconomics
• geopolitics
• Global Gateway

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joscha Abels

Joscha Abels is researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen. His main focus is on topics of International Political Economy and European Integration. Specific research interests lie in the fields of geoeconomics, infrastructure policy, international institutions, and the political economy of the Economic and Monetary Union. He has contributed to journals such as Competition & Change, Comparative European Politics, and European Politics and Society.

Hans-Jürgen Bieling

Hans-Jürgen Bieling is Professor of Political Economy at the Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen. His main focus is on topics of International Political Economy and European Integration. Specific research interests lie in the fields of financial markets, labour relations, right-wing populism, geoeconomics, and infrastructure policy. He has contributed to journals such as Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, and New Political Economy.