This chapter argues that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) – which currently controls the Turkish government – is pursuing state spatial objectives that are designed to entrench it within the state apparatus. The cornerstone of its spatial plan is the Middle Corridor, which integrates İstanbul with the Caucasus and Central Asia. This initiative has been formally aligned with the BRI, and this enabled the AKP to pursue its domestic political objectives, which include (1) the cultivation of a supportive bourgeoisie whose fortunes are connected to the construction sector, and (2) institutional reforms that enhance the executive branch’s regulatory powers over economy and society. This arrangement is in jeopardy because most contracts are awarded to Turkish firms, but this has led to tension with Chinese lenders.
This chapter illustrates Vietnam’s political balancing act by examining the country’s state spatial strategies around its infrastructure policy, particularly as Vietnam collaborated with both Japan and China over the past three decades. It suggests that the dynamics of infrastructure finance in Asia are rooted in long histories of regional competition and makes three key contributions. First, studies of international relations have divided security and economy in their research agendas and have thus evolved into two distinct fields of literatures in international security and international political economy. Instead, this chapter makes it clear that the nexus of security and economic policies is an important research agenda. Second, the impact of geopolitical competition between great powers needs to be considered alongside the agency of small states. How Vietnam assesses its respective relations vis-à-vis Japan and China determines how the China–Japan economic statecraft competition plays out. Third, competition creates benefits and challenges for small states in their state spatial strategy crafting. It is increasingly delicate, if not impossible, for the governments of these countries to strike a balance between their developmental priorities and their relations with great power counterparts and domestic constituencies.
