Developing an International Resilience Capability to Support China’s Belt and Road Initiative

China’s global infrastructure development strategy – known as the “Belt and Road Initiative”, focuses on international investment in critical infrastructure, education and construction covering more than 68 countries and 65% of the world’s population, and is estimated to contribute to an increase in the global gross domestic product of $7.1 trillion per annum by 2040. One of the most ambitious infrastructure development and investment projects ever conceived will be undertaken during a period of increasing economic and geopolitical volatility, levels of deep uncertainty and complexity in decision-making combined with unpredictable ambiguity associated with substantially different stakeholder networks and cultures. The very nature of the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the economic and social environment in which infrastructure investment and development is undertaken, can be exposed to existential threats, significantly impacting the ability of China to deliver on its strategic goals and objectives. This paper explores the potential vulnerabilities of the “Belt and Road Initiative” created by its critical stakeholder interdependencies in today’s highly complex and interconnected society. To overcome these challenges, China must demonstrate global leadership by building a collaborative and strategic international resilience capability with its key stakeholders to absorb short-term shocks and long-term stresses, a defining characteristic of critical entity resilience. An underlying objective of organizational resilience in the context of China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” is the ability to survive and prosper in the face of existential threats.