EMBA conference - Chinese new silk road initiatives and US containment strategies: towards a new cold war ?

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, announced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, is at the core of China’s foreign policy strategy. Already, the initiative has cost more than the post-World War II U.S. Marshall Plan, measured in today’s dollars. Beijing champions the project as a means to spur development, goodwill and economic integration between China and its neighbours in the west: most notably Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

However the project has proved controversial and several countries expressed suspicion about China’s true geopolitical intentions : the U.S. and Japan remain skeptical about its stated aims and even more worried about unspoken ones, especially those hinting at military expansion. The BRI is therefore viewed within the new US Administration as part of a Grand Strategy aiming at replacing America as the Global Superpower…

The trade war starting in 2018 should be analysed in this context . So far, the US has imposed three rounds of tariffs on Chinese goods, totalling more than $250bn, but President Trump has threatened tariffs on another $267bn worth of goods - meaning all Chinese imports could be subject to tariffs. After months of hostilities, a breakthrough of sorts came in December, both countries agreed to give time for talks.
The presentation will deal with what looks more and more like a new « Cold War ».

The conference will be followed by a cocktail with alumni, participants, faculty and Kedge representatives