The Belt and Road Initiative 2.0 is all about security

When the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was first announced in
2013, its official objective was to improve connectivity.
However, many things have happened since then, from the US-China
trade war to US containment of China’s technological rise, as
well as China’s much more belligerent approach to the West. How
is the BRI changing in this new reality?

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Giuseppe Porcaro is
joined by Alessia Amighini and Alicia García-Herrero. They share
the latest findings from their research, showing that the BRI has
transformed itself from an economic to a much broader strategy
with a political security-oriented focus. It serves as one of
several devices uniting the Global South in a new and
comprehensive narrative, one with a clear anti-Western tone.
Beyond the BRI, this new narrative also features cooperation in
the fields of digital governance, as well as academic and
cultural exchanges.

This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound
of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel,
bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from
Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

This is an output of China Horizons, Bruegel's contribution in
the project Dealing with a resurgent China (DWARC). This project
has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON Research
and Innovation Actions under grant agreement No. 101061700.