How is a BRI Project Proposal Softened and Materialized? An Examination of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Railway

Despite the considerable scholarly attention given to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), much less has been said about how a BRI project proposal is softened and reified. This study attempts to fill this knowledge gap by analyzing the China—Kyrgyzstan—Uzbekistan railway, a project with massive influence yet has garnered scant scholarly attention. Inspired by the multiple streams framework (MSF), this article reveals that it is the sequence of events within the problem and politics streams that has softened this proposal and made it more amenable to implementation. During this process, political entrepreneurs played a crucial part in tying the project to their domestic agendas. A dialog with MSF contributes to the theorization of studies on China's overseas infrastructure investments.