Contribution short abstract

Does growing Chinese financial aid within the BRI framework make Central Asian states more authoritarian?

Contribution long abstract

The effect of financial diplomacy on democratization prospects has long become a subject of numerous academic debates. In some cases, authoritarian donors push their authoritarian agendas, in others the recipients actually democratize as a result of financial aid. In my talk I will explore the effect of Chinese financial diplomacy on Central Asian authoritarian regimes. Did they become more or less democratic since the BRI was launched in 2013?