Newsletter 7/November 2021

CONTENTS: Posts: Beijing reports boom in foreign trade / Konflikte um das Südchinesische Meer // News: Courting the Bride Africa / Under Observation by the Regional Rival / Kämpfe entlang der Seidenstraßen / Webinar: China and the World // Reviews: Patrick Bond, China’s Role in Africa’s Development / Zeitschrift ‘Wissenschaft und Frieden’: Chinas Welt? – Konflikte und Kooperation.

Newsletter 1/May 2021

CONTENTS: Blog posts: Europe’s geopolitical ghost ride in the Indo-Pacific / “Debt diplomacy” as a popular refrain in the intensifying debate about China’s economic and political expansion // Readings: A new book on ‘how a former socialist country rescues world capitalism’ / Jonathan Hillman, ‘The Emperor’s New Road’ / Study on ‘social risks to sustainable development’ in China’s BRI.

Indo-Pacific: Europe’s geopolitical ghost ride

It may sound like a matter of routine: The German frigate ‘Bayern’ is about to set sail and spend several months cruising in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. The Defense Ministry merely wants to see this just as a “sign” to fly the flag where Germany’s “values and interests are affected”. However, behind this there is a fundamental paradigm shift.

Militarization: Adventure Trip to the Pacific

The deployment of the frigate ‚Bayern’ to a cruise in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific in summer this year is intended to lend substance to the “Guidelines on the Indo-Pacific” adopted by the German government last September and to the pronouncements of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister of Defense, that it “will expand its commitment to security policy to the Indo-Pacific”.