THESIS
2021
1 online resource (x, 285 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps
Abstract
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the ‘flagship’ project of the Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI). It, in fact, predates the BRI as it was finalized in May 2013, four
months before Xi Jinping announced the BRI. To date it remains the biggest project of the
BRI in terms of financial outlay and scope. US$ 62 billion worth of energy, infrastructure and
industrial projects have been planned across Pakistan. These are expected to complete by
2030. The supporters of the CPEC call it a ‘game changer’ and its critics label it as the ‘New East India Company.’ This research study ascertains the reality of the CPEC through a
qualitative approach by operationalizing these rhetorical phrases and developing a theory about it.
This study also identifies a big opportunity for Pakistan to catch up...[
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China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the ‘flagship’ project of the Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI). It, in fact, predates the BRI as it was finalized in May 2013, four
months before Xi Jinping announced the BRI. To date it remains the biggest project of the
BRI in terms of financial outlay and scope. US$ 62 billion worth of energy, infrastructure and
industrial projects have been planned across Pakistan. These are expected to complete by
2030. The supporters of the CPEC call it a ‘game changer’ and its critics label it as the ‘New East India Company.’ This research study ascertains the reality of the CPEC through a
qualitative approach by operationalizing these rhetorical phrases and developing a theory about it.
This study also identifies a big opportunity for Pakistan to catch up in the shape of the
special economic zones being established across the country under the CPEC’s industrial
cooperation component. To capitalize on this opportunity and informing theory and practice
this study makes use of the popular National Innovation System (NIS) approach for
describing the NIS of Pakistan and prescribing policy measures for improving its functioning.
Finally, this study tests a new theory in the science, technology, and innovation
scholarship – the theory of creative insecurity – in Pakistan for proposing revisions to it and
identifying those variables which have hampered the technological progress of Pakistan from
the perspective of its relative threat balance and not from the perspective of domestic
institutions and policies.
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