ABSTRACT
The Maghreb – composed of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia – region is located at the Mediterranean’s mouth, on the southern shore of Europe’s “Rio Grande,” and at the Western end of the Arab world. This chapter discusses the place of the Maghreb region in PRC’s BRI grand strategy. The central thesis presented in the book is that the Maghreb region has an integral role in the new Silk Road grand strategy. The partnerships between China and the North African countries help Beijing achieve effective management and control of its energy, goods, or product needs and open new markets and trade routes. PRC has been mostly successful in employing strategic partnerships or relationships as a prominent instrument in its limited diplomatic toolkit to guarantee integration between local countries’ needs and the Belt and Road vision. The BRI plays a key role in fulfilling the Chinese Dream and cementing the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership. Xi’s more assertive foreign policy delineates this ambitious initiative’s contour by weakening Western (European and the US) power and influence in BRI countries and challenging its global leadership in the liberal international order.
