Many observers are wondering why the US issued a sanctions waiver for the Indian-built port of Chabahar in southeastern Iran and the railroad project that’s supposed to one day extend from it to Afghanistan, but the reason is that America sees this curious “Lead From Behind” arrangement as one of its last chances to retain …
Continue reading Why’d the US Issue a Sanctions Waiver for Chabahar?
China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” is famous as an extension of their domestic infrastructure investments, but Russia is also investing heavily in infrastructure. Both countries need to do it in order to improve the future for their respective populations, and both Governments have avoided the Western development model of going heavily into debt in order …
Continue reading Russia & China Invest in Infrastructure; U.S. Instead Spends on Military
Constructivism criticism from one’s own supporters is oftentimes the most effective way for a country, project, or global vision to improve its shortcomings before they become unmanageable, and it’s with this in mind that such an approach must be urgently undertaken when it comes to China’s Silk Road. China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is …
Continue reading Constructive Criticisms of China’s Silk Road
Introduction China and India are actively competing with one another in East Africa, though this struggle for influence has largely failed to attract significant global attention. Both Great Powers are reluctant to recognize this in order to preserve their superficial and largely limited partnership through BRICS, while the US and its Mainstream Media partners don’t …
Continue reading The Chinese-Indian “Great Game” in East Africa
Far from being the “defeat” for China that it’s been framed as, Sierra Leone’s cancellation of a $400 million airport project is actually a favor to the People’s Republic because it gives Beijing the opportunity to rethink some of its Silk Road loans to Africa and ultimately refine its strategy there. It was easy to …
Continue reading Sierra Leone Did China a Favor by Cancelling a $400 Million Airport Project
The New Silk Roads symbolize way more than high-speed rail lines crisscrossing Eurasia, or a maze of highways, pipelines and port connectivity. They represent a Chinese alliance with at least 65 participating nations, responsible for 62% of the world’s population and 31% of its GDP. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it’s formally known, …
While many of this year’s UN General Assembly speeches have been lacklustre compared to last year, some heads of state always deliver when called to the rostrum to offer their verdict on the state of the world and the role their nation ought to play in shaping it. Two such men include Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip …
The rising African Great Power of Ethiopia might prospectively export electricity to Saudi Arabia upon the completion of its Grand Renaissance Dam and thus become the next de-facto member of the GCC+. “Friendly Competition” The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Agency’s (GCCIA) Ahmed Ali Al-Ebrahim told Climate News that the regional integration organization will undertake a …
Continue reading Ethiopia Might Power Saudi Arabia and Become the Next Member of the GCC+
If any one part of the world has forced China to throw its long-standing foreign and defense policy principles out the window and increasingly adopt attitudes associated with a global power, it is the greater Middle East, a region that stretches from the Atlantic coast of Africa to north-western China, a swath of land populated …
Continue reading Middle Eastern Black Swans dot China’s Belt and Road
