Via The Conversation, a look at how China’s Africa strategy is shifting from extraction to investment – driven from the industry-rich Hunan region: China experienced a massive economic boom in the 1990s and 2000s which increased its demand for resource imports, like oil, from Africa. This led to a model of development finance in which China funded infrastructure […]
Read more »Via Modern Diplomacy, a report on China’s interest in Afghanistan’s energy resources: August 2021 was a key date for the Asian continent. That month was marked by the failure of the United States in Afghanistan, which, after 20 years of occupation and the fight against terrorism, had to leave the country in haste, leaving it […]
Read more »Via the Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting, an article on the risks that the Southern Corridor project poses to Kazakhstan: The Southern Transport Corridor should not be viewed as a threat by Kazakhstan, but rather be taken as a sign that it is necessary to strengthen Central Asian cooperation and create joint logistics projects […]
Read more »Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a look at how Harare has Africa’s largest lithium reserves and Beijing is poised to benefit, despite an export ban: The world’s clean-energy transition will be impossible without African minerals—and a degree of resource nationalism from African countries is benefiting China, which has for decades invested in the African green-energy market […]
Read more »Via Geopolitical Futures, commentary on the BRICS’ future: On Aug. 22-24, members of the BRICS grouping will hold a summit in Johannesburg. They’re expected to discuss two key issues: enlargement and the possibility of adopting a common currency. Both issues are critical to the future of this partnership of five large developing nations: Brazil, Russia, […]
Read more »Courtesy of STRATFOR’s Rane Worldview, a look at the mounting challenges to China and Pakistan’s CPEC ambitions: Despite worsening militancy in Pakistan, China will almost certainly continue its investment projects in the country to secure its strategic interests. But Pakistan’s economic pressures and intensifying violence will prompt further delays to these projects’ completion and exacerbate […]
Read more »