THE RISE OF CHINESE INFLUENCE IN ALBANIA: THE POLITICAL MATURATION OF ALBANIA WHEN DEALING WITH ITS HISTORICAL ALLY

Abstract

When we first started this research, I noticed that there were a significant number of studies focused entirely on China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the African continent and reshaping African politics, yet very few is being said about the Chinese increasing influence in the Western Balkans. The Rise of Chinese Influence in Albania: The Political Maturation of Albania when Dealing with Its Historical Ally, which is the title of this essay, came to me as a very intriguing idea. This idea of a far eastern country influencing the Balkans for the first time is both exciting as a prospect but also concerning when considering the past or which country is the one that is spreading all that influence. A common misconception regarding China in global politics is that the Chinese state is working towards what some pundits in the West call it ‘global dominance’. I believe that this is an incorrect assumption. China first and foremost lacks the military capabilities of the United States regarding the capacity of projecting power. In this study the findings I had gathered, show that China has operationalized its vast economic power to influence the politics of the Western Balkans towards their national interests. This hypothesis is based on the theory of political economics where economy is used as a factor to influence a country’s politics, but also contemporary geopolitical theory. The expectation was that the influence of China is not as malign and negative as it is often portrayed, however there is a clear national interest centered approach where China is only looking only for their own interests and bottom line, while caring little for implicit negative effects that its economic investments might have in the respective countries. Albania was chosen as the main area of research because Albania has become quite the battleground of influences from both the East and West in recent years.