Thursday, April 22, 2021

As part of our Assessment of China’s Belt & Road Initiative speaker series, on Thursday, April 22 from 2:30 to 4:00 PM we will be joined by Hans Holzhacker, Chief Economist at the CAREC Institute. Hans’s talk is titled: China going global and Eurasia's changing economic landscape.

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute is an international inter-governmental organisation which is dedicated to promoting economic cooperation in Central Asia and along the Silk Road. The CAREC Institute is jointly shared, owned and governed by eleven member states, these include: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. More information about the CAREC program is available at this link.

Friday, April 16, 2021

As part of our Assessment of China’s Belt & Road Initiative speaker series, on Friday, April 16 from 3:30 to 5:00 PM we will be joined by Marlene Laruelle, Research Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. 

The abstract of Marlene’s talk titled: ‘Central Asia's Perceptions of the BRI: Hopes & Concerns’ is given below:

When Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Silk Road project in 2013, he made his statement from Astana, the Kazakhstani capital city. The BRI indeed targets Central Asia as one of the key regions of China's outreach: it is neighboring the sensitive region of Xinjiang and is an intermediary territory to reach Russia and then Europe. Yet, while the Central Asian authorities have been rejoicing at the Chinese initiative's launch, the local populations have a more cautious perspective. Thanks to several surveys and focus groups, one can now grasp Central Asia's public perception of China and the BRI and identify both Sinophobe and Sinophile constituencies and nuances. In this presentation, Marlene Laruelle will discuss Central Asia's perceptions of the BRI and the difficult balance between hopes and concerns expressed by local elites and populations.

Friday, March 26, 2021

In China’s Western Horizon, Daniel S. Markey previews how China’s efforts to transform its wealth and economic power into potent tools of global influence are likely to play out across the swath of Eurasia that includes South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

On balance, Markey anticipates that China’s deepening involvement will play to the advantage of regional strongmen and exacerbate the political tensions within and among Eurasian states. To make the most of America’s limited influence among China’s western horizon (and elsewhere), he argues that U.S. policymakers should pursue a selective and localized strategy in Eurasia as they navigate a future of global competition with Beijing.

Friday, March 12, 2021

Sophia Kidd will discuss the New Silk Road’s (NSR) fifth ‘pillar’ in her talk on Minxin Xiangtong ⺠心相通 and People-to-People (PTP) connections along the New Silk Roads; giving examples of how P2P connections support and sustain other NSR objectives: policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, and financial integration. This talk will then discuss how certain P2P typologies are more effective instruments of soft power, cultural diplomacy, and minxin xiangtong.

Thursday, February 25, 2021

David Day is one of the Indo-Pacific Region’s leading international legal practitioners, with special emphasis on Asia and the Pacific Islands. He is based out of Hawaii. 

A number of the projects David is engaged in necessarily include geopolitical issues between the United States, China, and selected Asian allies. He has also been involved in the development and conduct of capacity-building programs to bolster national security with American allies in Asia as well as project funding for capacity-building projects in Southeast Asia. 

Mr. Day is also the Chairman of the American Bar Association’s Belt & Road Task Force which deals with complex issues that run the gamut from international business & trade, needed hard and digital infrastructure development of smaller & poorer nations, geopolitics, corruption, espionage and national security. He is the architect and senior faculty director for the International section of the American Bar Association’s 7-part global webinar series on China and China’s Belt & Road in 2020-21. 

In recent months, David has conducted a number of global programs and webinars along with detailed briefings and speeches on current U.S. Trade Policy, the South China Sea challenge with China, the rise of radical Islam in Southeast Asia, China’s Belt & Road Initiative and its Digital Silk Road, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy/the U.S. China Relationship. A number of these briefings have been before Asian Cabinet-level Ministers, think tanks, diplomatic teams at U.S. and Asian Embassies and Consulates along with private sector business groups and conferences in both the U.S and Asia. 

Mr. Day is the Co-Chairman of the Trade Policy Committee of the U.S. National Association of District Export Councils and a member of its National Board of Directors, representing the entire Pacific Region and the Southwestern U.S. 

In addition to active legal practice, David is also a Founding Director and the Chairman of the Board of the Global Risk Mitigation Foundation (GRMF). The Hawaii based 501(c)3 Foundation is focused on education-focused holistic risk assessments and solutions for businesses, NGOs, and government entities. Mr. Day is also the Chairman of International Risk Management, Inc. a risk consultancy. 

As a private citizen, David was instrumental in the brokering of the first public discussions on the subject of economic normalization among several U.S. Ambassadors and Vietnamese Ministers in early 1997 which led to the initial, Bilateral Trade Agreement draft between the U.S. and Vietnam. 

David is also an experienced educator and has taught lawyers as well as Executive, ExecMBA and MBA candidates along with senior military, security professionals and diplomats on various international business and legal topics. 

As a U.S. business lawyer, Mr. Day has been on the ground extensively throughout the Indo-Pacific Region in deal-structuring and negotiations and is currently involved in a variety of commercial projects in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, China and Japan. 

Friday, November 15, 2019

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by China in 2013, seeks to improve the connectivity between China and the rest of Asia, the Middle East and on to Africa and Europe. From an economic perspective, it has the potential to upgrade and transform the transportation, communication and energy infrastructures of a large group of developing countries. From a political perspective, the initiative reflects the projection of China’s influence and geostrategic interests into surrounding regions, and the consolidation of its emerging position as a world power. However, the details of some of the projects, their economic and political implications, and the ways in which they have been financed, have proven controversial. This workshop will assess the economic and politics costs, benefits, and risks of the BRI and examine the American response. It will bring together scholars and policy makers to present their research and share their perspectives with interested faculty and students at the University of Virginia. The workshop is part of the UVA project “Assessment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative,” led by an interdisciplinary group of faculty members who share an interest in the BRI. The workshop will be held in conjunction with a panel discussion at the Miller Center on the implications for the U.S. and the American response.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

China’s advance on the African continent is often depicted as an inevitable consequence of the vast power asymmetries between a large global power (i.e., China) and its comparatively small and weak partners (i.e., African countries). Indeed, China enjoys an enduring advantage over even the largest African states on the international level (i.e., state power), the state level (i.e., state capacity), and the individual level (i.e., policy coordination and training). But are these large and multi-tiered asymmetries insurmountable, or can they at least partially be overcome? How have small African countries sought to gain agency vis-à-vis China, and how, in turn, has China responded? To investigate such questions, over the last three years Joshua Eisenman and Ambassador David H. Shinn have conducted more than 200 elite interviews in China and five African countries. Their research will culminate in their second co-authored book, which is under contract with the University of Pennsylvania Press.