Chapter 1
Introduction
Paulo Afonso B. Duarte, Francisco José Leandro,
and Enrique Martínez Galán
Every book has a story and a purpose. Every research is a collective discovery and a
commitment
designed to capitalize on our ability to share. It is a collective purposeful
attempt to push for advancement, keeping in mind that the risk of error looms behind
its conclusions.
This manuscript, The Palgrave Handbook of Globalization with Chinese Char-
acteristics
, is no exception. It is the result of a combination of three major factors:
first, the convergence of the research agendas of its editors around the Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI) and the idea of China as a re−emerging global power; second, the
topicality and timeliness of the BRI itself, which is, for many, the most complete geo−
economic transformational initiative since the Cold War—in terms of what it brings
together, such as economics, trade, connectivity, access with consent, soft power,
new material and immaterial flows, first−hand networks of agents, new perspectives
of multilateralism, innovation, new financial mechanisms, new spatial development
initiatives, fresh debates about the future of the international order—and is a project
that has been described as “unique” in the history of mankind; and third, the fact
that the BRI has been conceived to contribute substantial, decisive globalization
pathways, and is, at the same time, itself, a product of globalization.
P. A. B. Duarte ( B)
Universidade Lusófona & Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal
e−mail:
[email protected]
F. J. Leandro
University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
e−mail:
[email protected]
E. M. Galán
Asian Institute of Management, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
e−mail:
[email protected];
[email protected]
Center of African and Development Studies of ISEG−Lisbon School of Economics and
Management,
Lisboa, Portugal
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023
P
. A. B. Duarte et al. (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Globalization with Chinese
Characteristics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978−981−19−6700−9_1
1