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It’s Time to Reflect on China’s Global Economic Role (Again)

By Lukas FIala Whenever the AidData team at William & Mary publishes one of their landmark reports, it’s time for us to sit down, read and think. And with the publication of their latest findings this week, they’ve given us a ...

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LSE's foreign policy think tank

Related Posts

Landmark Report Tracks China’s Global Lending

The conversation about China’s rise as a global lender has been held back by two large trends. First, the data is hard to get and mind-numbingly vast. Second, studies tracking this data have so far tended to focus on the Global South in isolation, rather than putting ...

How China Really Secures Its Loans to Developing Countries

The "debt trap" meme claims that China is intentionally lending vast sums of money to poor developing countries in Africa, and elsewhere, with the express intent to seize physical assets in those countries when they inevitably can't repay their debts.

Why China Won’t Replace Western Aid

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters on Wednesday that the Trump administration’s sudden withdrawal of U.S. foreign assistance will endanger about 300 million people. The collapse of U.S. foreign assistance (and cuts announced in Europe) raised questions about whether China will fill the ...

Tracking China’s Dominance of the Transition Minerals Trade

U.S. and European leaders often talk about the importance of building China-free supply chains for transition minerals and other critical resources. While, for a lot of people, that may resonate among their constituents at home, the reality is that it's not ...
Israeli Experts Converge: China Can’t Afford to Back Iran
An Iranian man shouts anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans while standing in front of a portrait of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a rally to pledge allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei amid the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto) (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP)
By Amanda Chen One week into the war triggered by the American-Israeli joint offensive on Iran launched on Saturday, February 28, Tehran’s retaliation has already expanded from targeting U.S. military assets to striking Gulf energy and civilian infrastructure. On March 7, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian publicly apologized to ...

It’s Time to Reflect on China’s Global Economic Role (Again)

By Lukas FIala Whenever the AidData team at William & Mary publishes one of their landmark reports, it’s time for us to sit down, read and think. And with the publication of their latest findings this week, they’ve given us a ...

Landmark Report Tracks China’s Global Lending

The conversation about China’s rise as a global lender has been held back by two large trends. First, the data is hard to get and mind-numbingly vast. Second, studies tracking this data have so far tended to focus on the Global South in isolation, rather than putting ...

How China Really Secures Its Loans to Developing Countries

The "debt trap" meme claims that China is intentionally lending vast sums of money to poor developing countries in Africa, and elsewhere, with the express intent to seize physical assets in those countries when they inevitably can't repay their debts.

Why China Won’t Replace Western Aid

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters on Wednesday that the Trump administration’s sudden withdrawal of U.S. foreign assistance will endanger about 300 million people. The collapse of U.S. foreign assistance (and cuts announced in Europe) raised questions about whether China will fill the ...

Tracking China’s Dominance of the Transition Minerals Trade

U.S. and European leaders often talk about the importance of building China-free supply chains for transition minerals and other critical resources. While, for a lot of people, that may resonate among their constituents at home, the reality is that it's not ...

Tracking Chinese Mineral Engagement Along the Belt and Road

China’s centrality in the global critical minerals sector is frequently bemoaned in Western capitals, but what’s less understood is how China got there. A new report by AidData, a research center at the College of William and Mary, came out this week and tracks mineral-related deals ...

Leaders from Recipient Countries Weigh In on BRI: Report

The future of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is preoccupying China watchers around the world. However, the debate frequently leaves out the most important stakeholders: leaders from recipient countries. A new report from AidData polled leaders and senior officials from ...

What the Past Tells Us About the Future of the BRI

There's a widely-held perception in many parts of the U.S., Europe, and India that debt and geopolitics have led to the demise of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But a landmark new study from AidData proves otherwise, revealing not only ...

New Report Tracks Major Developments in Chinese Lending

China’s Belt and Road Initiative is evolving rapidly to take on debt, reputational, and ESG challenges that affected its first decade. This is one of the findings of a landmark report from AidData, a research institute at the College of William and ...

Guessing China’s Military Basing Ambitions

By Lukas Fiala Occasionally, a new report reignites the debate over where China might place its next military base. And just in time for the PLA’s 96th anniversary on Tuesday this week a recent study from AidData sheds new light on the topic. ...

Where Will China’s Next Naval Base Be? New Report Lays Out the Options

Amid worries in Washington about the expansion of China’s global military reach, a new report by AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary, identifies eight locations for possible future bases. Recent reports that a pier at the Ream ...

Lending Data Offers Clue to China’s Global South Influence

A new report led by the U.S.-based research center AidData is drawing global attention this week. It shows that from 2008 to 2021, China spent $240 billion in bailouts and liquidity support to 22 Global South countries. Even though the report focuses ...
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