China’s President Xi Jinping promises that his Belt and Road Initiative, a sweeping vision to put China at the center of the global economy through new infrastructure, trade deals and other connections, was a “plan in the sunshine.”
This week in Washington is for global economy wonks what fashion week in Paris is for the best dressed. With roundtables instead of runways, the World Bank’s annual spring meetings and the events around them shape and reflect trends, some longer standing than others. As in years past, there will be calls for equitable growth, inclusive growth, sustainable growth, and responsible growth. Simple growth, simply put, is not in style.
In pursuit of a robust strategic partnership, India and Japan are broadcasting their desire to work together far beyond South Asia, with an emphasis on Africa. Their vision for an Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) lacks detail, but still offers an opportunity to raise both countries’ profile in a strategic continent. To compete with China’s presence there, however, India and Japan will have to show that they are committed to the continent and that they can deliver not just on quality but also on speed.
“Eurasia is thus the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played,” the late Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote two decades ago. His words ring true again as a massive infrastructure competition unfolds across the Eurasian supercontinent. If the roads, railways, and other connections that are emerging today shift flows of goods, people, and ideas, the long-term implications could be profound. This collection includes essays from our Big Questions series, in which leading experts examine this potentially epochal shift.
It is time to expand transparent, high-standard regional lending mechanisms – tools that will actually help nations instead of saddling them with mounting debt.