China’s flagship foreign policy effort could reshape the world’s digital, trade, and transport networks and political ties for decades to come.
The Belt and Road’s expansiveness is a double-edged sword. Chinese officials can highlight individual successes and, pointing to a long roster of participants, they can claim international support. Beneath its global banner, though, the Belt and Road is mostly bilateral deal-making.
Since it was launched two years ago, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has sparked praise, skepticism, and even violence, resulting in widespread confusion about what’s driving this $55 billion energy and infrastructure effort, and how it will impact the region.
No region on the planet is experiencing more dramatic climate change than the Arctic. In recent years, this has resulted in melting glaciers, rapid ecosystem changes, diminishing sea ice, and changes in the atmospheric circulation and ocean properties. Ocean temperatures are increasing due to global warming. In a business-as-usual scenario for greenhouse gas emissions, temperatures may increase by 8-10 degrees Celsius. Even in the most optimistic scenario for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the Arctic will warm several degrees and fundamentally change as we know it today.
Quotes and Quotas is a weekly digest of phrases and facts that help explain Asia’s infrastructure push.
As China looks westward for energy security and the United States seeks to commit more attention to the Pacific, the U.S. must decide how it will try to shape China’s role in the Middle East.