China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), propelled by the government’s will and the allocation of massive financial resources, has been changing the political and economic realities in Eurasia. A lot of money is moving around, creating opportunities for unscrupulous individuals to engage in corrupt schemes. Crony capitalism receives a major boost in the conditions of weak rule of law and lack of transparency and accountability. Thus, along with the transport, trade, investment, financial and people-to-people connectivity, fostered by the BRI, we see the flourishing of connectivity of corrupt elites in China and Eurasia. These networks are not limited to “emerging markets”, but are part of global arrangements facilitating shady deals and money laundering. The discussion sheds light on the shady side of the BRI in Eurasia, along with its actors and mechanisms, and outlines possible ways to improve the governance of investments.

Speaker(s): 

Alexander Cooley, Director, Harriman Institute, Columbia University; Claire Tow Professor of Political Science, Barnard College: "The Price of Connectivity: China’s Local Central Asian Entanglements"
Jonathan E. Hillman, Senior Fellow, Simon Chair in Political Economy, and Director, Reconnecting Asia Project, CSIS:"Road to Ruin: Why Corruption Flows along China’s Belt and Road"
Moderator: Nargis Kassenova, Senior Fellow, Program on Central Asia, Davis Center; Associate Professor, KIMEP University

This event is co-sponsored by the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University.