Building a multipolar world - Ten years of the Belt and Road Initiative

Since the announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative ten years ago, more than 150 countries and international organizations have signed up to the strategy, and upwards of a trillion dollars has been spent on new infrastructure throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The project is actively feeding into global development, modernization and connectedness. This webinar will analyze the implementation of the BRI so far, seeking to understand its impact and trajectory. In particular we will address accusations that it constitutes a “debt trap”, or that it is part of a hegemonic geopolitical strategy being carried out by China. We will look at how the BRI is improving lives throughout the Global South; the role it has in a global green transition towards renewal energy systems and biodiversity protection; Western global investment projects such as the Build Back Better World; and the role the BRI plays in a changing international order. Speakers Erik Solheim (President, Green Belt and Road Institute) Professor Zhang Weiwei (Director, China Institute, Fudan University) Li Jingjing (Journalist and political commentator, CGTN) Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi (Political analyst, Iran) Senator Mushahid Hussain (Chair, Pakistan-China Institute) Martin Jacques (Author, When China Rules the World) Fred M’membe (President, Socialist Party Zambia) Camila Escalante (Editor, Kawsachun News) Keith Bennett (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China) Moderator: Radhika Desai (Convenor, International Manifesto Group) Organizers This webinar is jointly organised by Friends of Socialist China and the International Manifesto Group. It is cosponsored by: Connolly Books Critical Theory Workshop Geopolitical Economy Research Group Geopolitical Economy Report Hampton Institute International Action Center Iskra Press Kawsachun News Peace, Land, and Bread Pivot to Peace Veterans For Peace – China Working Group