2014, it is not up-to-date concerning recent events. Michał Lubina’s well-researched book “Russia and china – a political marriage of convenience – stable and successful” mediates valuable knowledge on China. The currently published book “China’s Belt & Road Initiative” served as the main source regarding the ini parenting described by Baumrind tiative, in particular, the chapters by Francis Schortgen and Thomas Lairson. It is problematic to stay up-to-date concerning developments around the BRI, as it is a broad concept rathe parenting described by Baumrind r than a concrete plan and changes occur (Eder, 2018). The primary sources of the two last-named works are a wellspring for deeper insights and the paper is largely based on them. Competent knowledge was provided by John Ikenberry’s and Darren Lim’s assessment of “China’s emerging institutional statecraft”. Regarding the theoretical part, Tim Dunne’s and Brian Schmidt’s chapter on realism served as a primary source, followed by John Mearsheimer’s take on structural realism in “International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity”, especially his knowledge on offensive realism. Figure 1‑1 Map of BRI (Source: Merics as seen in Eder, 2018)3 Analysis After presenting offensive realism, the theory is consulted to explain what China seeks to achieve with the BRI and its implication on the international system. 3. parenting described by Baumrind 1 Theory In realism the sovereign state is the unitary actor in a system where anarchy prevails, meaning there is no  parenting described by Baumrind centralised authority, which governs all states. Consequently, states rely on themselves to ensure their prosperity, territorial integrity and sovereignty, which realism dubs the survival of the state, being the primary interest of all states (Dunne & Schmidt, 2017,  parenting described by Baumrind pp.105-106). Moreover, states can never be certain about other states’ true intentions (Mearsheimer, 2006, p.73). Thus, the foreign policy of a state, oriented on its national interest, must aim to maximising its power, as outlined by offensive realism, since possessing an overwhelming amount of power represents simply the soundest strategy to guarantee survival (Mearsheimer, 2006, p.72; Zürn, 19>