This weekend was a rough one for South Africa. On Sunday, the country watched as fires around Table Mountain slowly started creeping downhill, towards the beautiful campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT). Soon it was confirmed that the university’s African Studies library, which housed a unique collection of African film, and one of the biggest repositories of historical documents related to Southern Africa, was on fire. Librarians are still trying ...
Category: U.S.-China
What We’ve Lost in the Fire
This weekend was a rough one for South Africa. On Sunday, the country watched as fires around Table Mountain slowly started creeping downhill, towards the beautiful campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT). Soon it was confirmed that the university’s African Studies library, which housed a ...
Africa and the Suga-Biden Summit
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga left Tokyo today for a crucial summit on Friday with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House. This is going to be an important get-together, not only because it's the first time that Biden will host a visiting leader as president ...
There Isn’t Much Time Left if the U.S. Wants to Challenge China on Vaccine Distribution
With U.S. vaccination rates on the rise and predictions that the country will reach herd immunity by mid-summer, confidence in Washington's pundit and political circles has been steadily rising that the United States will finally be well-positioned to challenge China's early lead ...
Belt & Road and Vaccines Emerge as New Chinese Vectors to Bend the International Order to Its Will, Warns New U.S. Intelligence Report
China's push for "global power" emerged as the top threat to the United States using initiatives including the Belt & Road Initiative and COVID-19 vaccine distribution emerged as the top threat facing the United States, according to an important annual intelligence assessment released on ...
CSIS’s Judd Devermont Has Two Recommendations For How the U.S. Should Meet the Challenge of China’s BRI in Africa
Judd Devermont is the Africa Program Director at the Center for Strategic Studies, one of Washington's most influential think tanks, and recently spoke with Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, Director of Research from the German Marshall Fund about how to "re-imagine U.S.-Africa policy."
U.S. Senate Proposal to Fund “Independent Media” to Report “Negative Impact” of BRI in Developing Countries Generates Some Giggles in Washington
The United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee wants to give a lot of money to local media in BRI member countries "to raise awareness of and increase transparency regarding the negative impact of activities related to the Belt and Road Initiative."
Worsening Security Conditions in Mozambique Threaten Huge US EXIM Bank Pipeline Deal Meant to Stymie China
The U.S. Export-Import Bank disregarded warnings about the worsening security situation in Mozambique and went ahead with a risky $4.7 billion loan for a gas pipeline last year that is now in serious trouble. The bank became the largest creditor on ...
U.S. Is Apparently Determined to See if It Can Build a “Belt & Road Alternative.” Biden to Discuss With Suga Next Week in DC.
U.S. President Joe Biden appears increasingly determined for the U.S. to rally allies in Europe and Asia to develop a rival to China's Belt and Road Initiative. The issue will reportedly be on the agenda next week when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to meet with ...
With an Eye on China, U.S. Appoints Veteran Aid Industry Executive to Lead Vaccine Distribution Effort
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Monday that Gayle Smith, a former U.S. Agency for International Development administrator and chief executive of the ONE Campaign to eradicate poverty and preventable disease, will become Washington's point person on global vaccine distribution. ...
What Will it Take to Realize Biden’s Vision of an Alternative BRI?
U.S. President Joe Biden's commitment to rolling out infrastructure domestically and internationally is setting up a fascinating race with China. After years of withdrawing from multilateral cooperation and refusing to engage with the realities of climate change, the current push raises ...
Chinese Professor Identifies Three Risks For China in Beijing’s Recent Iran Deal
The recent signing of a 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between China and Iran sparked considerable debate within China about whether the benefits of a deal with Tehran are worth the considerable risks to Beijing's broader diplomatic agenda in the Mideast and, more importantly, its ...