The Hegemonic Ambitions of the Belt and Road Initiative: Institutional Contexts in Egypt and Morocco

Abstract

This article explores the national reception of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), comparing the cases of Egypt and Morocco. The aim is to find out whether the BRI promotes development in the target countries and, secondarily, whether it actually succeeds in enabling China to establish the BRI as a hegemonic standard in these countries by making them more dependent. To this end, we will explore in particular the impact of national institutional contexts in modulating its effects, and show two different trajectories. For example, Morocco, which has better institutional capacities, modulates the BRI to its advantage better than Egypt, which is on a trajectory of dependence.