Political Risk on the Belt and Road, in A Geopolitical Assessment of the Belt and Road Initiative, edited by Csaba Moldicz

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has generated a new discourse of political risks, which has emerged at the same time as rising geopolitical contest between the United States and China. While some risks, such as claimed “debt traps” appear to date, at least, to be lacking evidence, there will be new risks generated by such an ambitious program of infrastructure development by a rising power, including in high-risk locations and characterized by particular business practices. It is proposed to expand the conventional understanding of geopolitical risks to better understand some of the new risk discourses, from Huawei to Hambantota Port. The paper proposes three categories for assessment, analysis and assessment of new political risks on the Belt and Road, at the geopolitical, country and project levels. The risks manifest differently at each level. These three categories are proposed to aid future research in taking a more empirical approach to exploring the diversity of experience on the Belt and Road. A more empirical, evidence-based approach to future case study investigation promises to be particularly valuable for key actors involved in BRI projects, to support development and implementation of risk management strategies