China's New Silk Road:
Promise or Peril?

The Experts Speak
 

Join us for our 4th annual world affairs panel led by our own club member, Lyle Goldstein '94,
in partnership with the  Brown Club of RI.

The Silk Road and its promise of riches has transfixed humanity since ancient times.  Less than a decade ago, Chinese decision-makers decided to build a foreign policy strategy around the ancient idea of expanding connectivity between East and West.  Now known formally as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the strategy encompasses ambitious overland transit corridors through Central Asia and the Middle East.  It also is seeking to facilitate new maritime trade routes, as well, with port upgrades underway from East Africa to the Russian Arctic.  These efforts have sparked a globe-spanning controversy.  Americans are decidedly skeptical and have tended to view Chinese plans through the lens of “great power competition.” Europeans are starkly divided with some hoping to benefit from new commercial opportunities, while others are concerned about perceived attempts by Beijing to cultivate a series of “Trojan horses” within Europe itself.  Across the rest of Eurasia and Africa, there are mixed reviews, but most governments have been inclined to play along with China’s ambitious plans.  
 

This unique panel discussion features a mix of viewpoints regarding these developments, including from defense, historical, and journalistic perspectives.  These experts have been looking at Chinese foreign policy for decades and are well positioned to offer an interim assessment with respect to the BRI. Whether China’s new Silk Road plans come to fruition or not, the initiative is set to form one of the most critical frameworks for determining the pattern of world politics and global commerce in the 21^st century and beyond.

An impressive panel of foreign affairs experts from Harvard and the US Naval War College:

• Grant Rhode - Professor, US Naval War College, Boston University and the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
• Lucy Hornby - Deputy Bureau Chief for the Financial Times Beijing and Nieman Fellow Harvard University
• Lyle J. Goldstein -  Professor, US Naval War College
• Moderated by Tyler Jost - Watson Center Assistant Professor of China Studies, Brown University

Register now as we expect a sellout! 

When:  Monday, February 10th 2020 - 6pm light refreshments and 6:45pm panel

Where: Brown University Smith-Buonanno Hall, 95 Cushing Street, Providence

Cost:   $10 for HCRI members; $15 for nonmembers

RSVP:  See the link below to buy tickets. Click here to renew your membership

Attendance will be limited to 125 between the two clubs. There will be no walk-ins. All attendees must be pre-registered.

Click here to renew your membership to the Harvard Club of Rhode Island. Remember membership is free for current students, those graduating in the past 10 years and those having already celebrated your 50th Harvard reunion. For the rest of us, annual membership are just $50 with the option of contributing a little more to our scholarship fund.