Do States develop geopolitical leverage through the international activities of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in ports and maritime logistics?

This study develops an analytical framework to examine the leverage [defined as ‘capacity to influence’] that countries develop over others through international investments of their State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in ports and maritime logistics. Seaports serving international trade are pivotal connections between national economies and the world, and critical nodes in global logistics networks. Influence in a foreign port is a potential source of geopolitical leverage. SOEs have long been active in ports, shipping, and logistics, and attention to their impact has increased due to the accelerated involvement of SOEs, in particular Chinese ones, in ports worldwide. The study details the roles of internationally active SOEs in three relevant activities: shipping, terminal operations, and port management and development and constructs a framework for assessing the conditions under which SOE activities in a host country create leverage for the home country of the SOE. It then applies this analytical framework in a case study of the presence of a Chinese SOE (COSCO) in Piraeus, Greece. The case study concludes that COSCO's activities in Piraeus do give China leverage over Greece. The findings call for further assessments of whether, and if so, how home countries of SOEs develop and exercise leverage to achieve their geopolitical objectives.