Europe’s Global Gateway: To Where?

In contrast to the widespread scepticism at the beginning (see Newsletter December 2021), Harry Seavey, in his article published by Panda Paw Dragon Claw, argues that there is a chance that Europe’s own infrastructure initiative can become a serious competitor or addition to Belt&Road. For this to happen, however, a similarly attractive narrative would have to be framed to counter “resentments over Europe’s colonial legacy and history of grand plans that have proven to be ‚wishful thinking’“.

B3W: New Highway to Heaven

The label for the multilateral copy of China’s New Silk Roads recently announced at the G7 summit by U.S. President Biden is gruesome: Build Back Better World, or B3W. As a “values-driven, high-standard, and transparent infrastructure partnership” it is to compete with China’s infrastructure activities. So far, however, B3W is merely an anaemic PR product.