Barnett on the rampant Chinese influence
One of the many things I like about Dr Barnett are his ability to portray big ideas in a few words… like in a recent blog post of his. It’s short, so I’ll just quote the entire thing:
Add Palestine to the long list of troubled states where we find Chinese business interests on the back side–our liability-limiting partner whether we recognize it or not.
Unless, of course, you believe diplomatic plans sans economic development work whatsoever.
So, is Big Bad China bad for the developing nations in which Chinese businesses/gov is encroaching upon? Would all those countries in Africa be tropical utopias if China would just leave them alone?
Heck no. Chinese business/gov might be acting in their own selfish interests, but others will ultimately benefit from that connectivity regardless of the motivation. Infrastructure will be one of the early beneficiaries. Transparent gov will come later, of course, but come it will.