ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a variety of scholarly works on the AIIB. Those who suspect China’s underlying geopolitical and geo-economic motivations for establishing the AIIB see the bank as an instrument of power for Beijing that will serve China’s own interests during the power transition period. On the contrary, other studies take a more optimistic view of the AIIB, believing that it can improve the functional coordination of the financial resources necessary to improve regional infrastructure. From a status or reputational perspective, the AIIB serves as a diplomatic instrument that China can use to persuade the international community that its rise will be peaceful and to gain recognition of its status as a great power in the international financial system. Based on different strategic circumstances, each country will respond to the AIIB in a different way. Instead of considering these arguments independently, this book provides an analytical framework, which proposes that the configuration of the AIIB should be explained as a dynamic circle influenced by the changing strategic conditions experienced by countries around the world, by China’s status deficit and by the development of the AIIB.
