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The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023
Gerard Clarke
The European Journal of Development Research, Volume: 37, Issue: 5, Pages: 965 - 984
Swansea University Author: Gerard Clarke
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DOI (Published version): 10.1057/s41287-025-00714-8
Abstract
In the ten years between late 2013 and late 2023, China’s approach to international development evolved at pace and, by 2023, China asserted a leading role in the framing and delivery of international cooperation to support transformational change in the Global South. This article explains the basis...
| Published in: | The European Journal of Development Research |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0957-8811 1743-9728 |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2025
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70140 |
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2025-08-08T13:01:59Z |
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| last_indexed |
2026-01-28T05:33:37Z |
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2026-01-27T11:01:26.0110214 v2 70140 2025-08-08 The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 cfeec5339b0ed351848d33801069bcb0 Gerard Clarke Gerard Clarke true false 2025-08-08 In the ten years between late 2013 and late 2023, China’s approach to international development evolved at pace and, by 2023, China asserted a leading role in the framing and delivery of international cooperation to support transformational change in the Global South. This article explains the basis for, and unpacks, China’s assertion, and the contribution it makes to evolving development heterodoxy. Adopting a constructivist approach and focusing on a conceptual trinity of institutions, infrastructure and influence, it explores: (1) new multilateral institutions and the expanded BRICS alliance; (2) The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); and (3) China’s Global Community of Shared Future (GCSF) & Global Development Initiative (GDI) policies. China, with allies, it concludes, is engaged in a ‘great game’ in which it simultaneously cooperates and competes with Western interests that have traditionally dominated the development enterprise, fuelling development heterodoxy, and reframing development discourse to the benefit, primarily, of countries in the global South. Journal Article The European Journal of Development Research 37 5 965 984 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 0957-8811 1743-9728 China; Xi Jinping; Policy Evolution; Belt & Road Initiaitive; BRICS+; Global Development Initiative 1 10 2025 2025-10-01 10.1057/s41287-025-00714-8 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2026-01-27T11:01:26.0110214 2025-08-08T13:55:25.9199522 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Gerard Clarke 1 70140__35091__f32874338d5c4d37a4521433353b4138.pdf 70140.VoR.pdf 2025-09-15T11:36:26.3666203 Output 837026 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| title |
The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 |
| spellingShingle |
The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 Gerard Clarke |
| title_short |
The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 |
| title_full |
The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 |
| title_fullStr |
The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 |
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The ‘Great Game’ Redux? China and Development Heterodoxy in a Multi-polar World 2013–2023 |
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The European Journal of Development Research |
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In the ten years between late 2013 and late 2023, China’s approach to international development evolved at pace and, by 2023, China asserted a leading role in the framing and delivery of international cooperation to support transformational change in the Global South. This article explains the basis for, and unpacks, China’s assertion, and the contribution it makes to evolving development heterodoxy. Adopting a constructivist approach and focusing on a conceptual trinity of institutions, infrastructure and influence, it explores: (1) new multilateral institutions and the expanded BRICS alliance; (2) The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); and (3) China’s Global Community of Shared Future (GCSF) & Global Development Initiative (GDI) policies. China, with allies, it concludes, is engaged in a ‘great game’ in which it simultaneously cooperates and competes with Western interests that have traditionally dominated the development enterprise, fuelling development heterodoxy, and reframing development discourse to the benefit, primarily, of countries in the global South. |
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2025-10-01T05:31:20Z |
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