The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) political and economic mobilization is now a key aspect of China's presence abroad. It mainly involves thousands of investment and infrastructure projects in developing countries, but has many other aspects, including some that are geo-strategic. The US has thus mounted an anti-BRI counter-mobilization that enlists allies, such as India and Japan, to attack the BRI as "Chinese neo-colonialism," a "Chinese debt trap," etc. The global controversy about the BRI has begun to attract social science and other academic analysis. We will use social science theories and concepts, as well as empirical studies, to analyze its dimensions, significance and outcomes. This largely student-led seminar will discuss global and country case analyses of the BRI. Student will also research and write a paper on an aspect of the BRI of his or her choice.