Understanding Western geoeconomy and geoeconomics

Amidst economic globalization, commerce and trade have become increasingly interwoven with national security and foreign policy, emphasizing the growing interdependence of commerce, trade, and foreign policy in the 21st century. This trend has intensified in the 21st century, with the rise of multipolar economies and growing trade and technology conflicts, particularly between China and the United States, fueling interest in geoeconomic research. However, geoeconomic studies still lack clear theoretical and conceptual definitions as well as a complete qualitative analytical framework, posing challenges in supporting China's peaceful rise with a theoretical perspective. This study reviewed the current landscape of Western geoeconomic research, uncovering that: 1) the theoretical development of Western geoeconomics has evolved through two phases: germination and initiation; 2) three predominant schools have emerged: geostrategy, economic geography, and critical geography; 3) geoeconomics and geopolitics are deeply intertwined, rooted in "capitalistic logic" and "territorial logic", respectively; 4) extant empirical research spans various topics, including geoeconomic strategies, the application and impact of geoeconomic tools, and the discourse and conceptualization of geoeconomics. Finally, this article pointed out that geoeconomics is a tangible reality and represents a form of political geography driven by capitalistic logic, focusing on geopolitical spatial economics. It is dialectically integrated with geopolitics, serving both as a diplomatic policy practice and an analytical framework. Based on the coupling of existing research and China's contemporary context, this article suggests that future research in China should address geoeconomic resilience, the implementation and effectiveness of geoeconomic tools at varying scales, geoeconomic practices in smaller countries and third countries, geoeconomics from the perspective of urban regionalism, and the interplay between geoeconomic discourses and practices, to advance geoeconomic theories in China. This research is helpful to accurately and comprehensively understanding geoeconomics, grasping the development trends of Western geoeconomics, and better guiding the development of geoeconomics in China, so as to serve the implementation of "the Belt and rRoad Initiative" and the peaceful rise of China.