A notorious ex-gangster from China is launching an $18 billion economic development zone in Myawaddy, Myanmar under the banner of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But experts say the project’s plans are centered on illegal gambling. If true, this could spell trouble for Beijing.
“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.
Wildlife traffickers are taking advantage of new roads, ports, and airports to cross borders more quickly and easily.
Drugs, human smuggling, and illegal migration will remain crucial elements of life and the economy in Central Asia in the coming years, a problem only amplified by the new Silk Road.
Asia’s infrastructure push will involve building roads, railways, and ports across a vast expanse of land… One must consider the dynamics of known infectious diseases and acknowledge the likelihood that currently unknown infections are likely to emerge as new areas are explored and populations are linked.