Commentary
Initially proclaimed as the economic marvel that would create massive global infrastructure and growth, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has encountered significant problems in recent years that have created doubt over its impact.
The BRI was launched by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2013 when he pushed for a “Silk Road Economic Belt,” in a speech at a university in Kazakhstan.
At first a rather vague concept, the idea was rebranded. It involved two aspects, an overland Silk Road Economic Belt and a Maritime Silk Road which Xi announced at the 2013 ASEAN summit in Indonesia.
The name derives from the Han Dynasty’s original westward trade networks connecting Central Asia, now the so-called “stan nations” to China….