Strike Of The Eye Solutions

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet during a ceremony to welcome Xi to Rome on March 23. (Christian Minelli/NurPhoto/Getty Images)

In late March, the government of Italy signed a memorandum of understanding to join China's Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing's $1 trillion plan to develop land and sea trade routes from Asia to Africa to Europe. Italy is the first large European economy to do this, agreeing in principle to deals with China worth about $2.8 billion in investment in a variety of sectors.

This set off alarm bells in the White House and groans in the European Union. While the Trump administration fretted about yet another Chinese attempt to expand its sphere of influence, the EU stressed that Italy was undermining Europe's ability to engage with China as a single bloc.

Italy's rationale for joining the Belt and Road Initiative is straightforward: An influx of Chinese investment could help push Italy out of its economic doldrums. Meanwhile, Italian exporters could gain access to China's massive domestic market. That sounds attractive enough, but Italy would be wise to look to other countries that have signed up for the initiative and the challenges they've faced. Pakistan's experience in particular is telling.

At first blush, the two countries seem wildly different. Italy is a member of the G-7 and the world's eighth largest economy. Pakistan, despite having more than triple the population, barely cracks the top 40. It has also been bailed out by the IMF nearly 15 times.

On closer inspection, though, the two countries share important similarities.

Both Pakistan and Italy are heavily burdened with debt: As of 2018, Pakistan's debt was 73 percent of GDP, and Italy's was an eye-popping 132 percent. Each is reliant on external help: Pakistan has required a combination of IMF loans and the support of the Gulf states and China to keep it in the black. Similarly, since the 2008 financial crisis, Italy has relied on bailouts from the European Central Bank. To compound matters, Italy's growth rate has been near zero.

Both Pakistan and Italy are heavily burdened with debt: As of 2018, Pakistan's debt was 73 percent of GDP, and Italy's was an eye-popping 132 percent.

As a result, both states have been hungry for external capital, both are in search of new markets for their exports, and both need to claw their way out of debt. In Pakistan, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decided that Belt and Road fit the bill, and he opened his country up to a wave of Chinese investments in 2015.

The results have been mixed. China has indeed poured money into Pakistan, but it's been in the form of loans to Pakistan that it must then give to Chinese firms to set up shop there. Those firms have invested in equipment bought in China—not Pakistan. With little capital going into Pakistan, the country's debt burden has only shot up. Pakistan is now negotiating with the IMF for a new bailout, but the IMF's concern about the lack of transparency of Pakistan's debts to China has complicated matters.

One can foresee similar tensions arising in Italy: a European Central Bank that is reluctant to come to the aid of an Italy that takes on greater debt in exchange for less transparency. The United States has advanced the argument that the IMF and its donor states shouldn't subsidize Pakistan's dealings with China. Italy could find itself in a similar position with the European Central Bank.

Turmoil in Pakistani politics also offers a lesson for Italy. Pakistan has a history of unexpected twists and turns in its administrations, and its most recent changeover of power was no different. Sharif was jailed on corruption charges and then was succeeded last year by the former cricket star Imran Khan. Upon assuming office, the Khan government struck a more cautious approach with Belt and Road, with ministers calling for a full review of projects, putting some on hold, canceling others, and diverting funds from the initiative to other activities.

Turmoil in Pakistani politics also offers a lesson for Italy.

That should sound familiar to Italians, whose country has averaged one government turnover every 14 months since World War II. Italy's current coalition government of the League and Five Star Movement parties is divided over the Belt and Road Initiative, and the strain is starting to show. Five Stars has backed the MOU enthusiastically, while League Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini (who warned of foreign companies "colonizing" Italy) pointedly skipped the state dinner held for Chinese President Xi Jinping in celebration of the agreement.

It's not difficult to envision opposition abroad, skepticism at home, and a new successor government that reverses course. And that should worry Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and his coalition partners.

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Dan Grant served as USAID's deputy assistant administrator for Pakistan and is a specialist on post-conflict states, stabilization, and economic development.

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Samovars, Vodka, and Axes: Traditional Russian Behaviors in an Isolated New World

2019-03-31T20:43:00.001-04:00

Samovars, Vodka, and Axes: Traditional Russian Behaviors in an Isolated New World

by Dilliplane, Timothy L., Ph.D., Union Institute and University, 2018, 360; 13804862

Abstract (Summary)

This dissertation focuses on the relatively little-known and highly remote 18^th and 19^th century Russian colonies established in North America, attempts to gain a clearer vision of mostly undefined daily lifeways in the settlements via a search for traditional Russian behaviors, and weighs the impact of cultural isolation on those behaviors. In so doing, lessons-learned are considered as they apply to the enhancement of social justice in the isolated communities of the future, whether they be on this planet or beyond the gravitational pull of Earth.

Drawing upon a previously researched inventory of 18^th and 19^th century traditional Russian behaviors (which serves as a primary database for the study), two selected settlements are examined for possible traditional behavioral characteristics for Russian America as a whole. One of these is Novo-Arkhangel'sk (present-day Sitka, Alaska)—the colonial capital and Russian America's primary seaport—and the other is Kolmakovsky Redoubt, a small trading post located in the interior of Southwestern Alaska. The cultural isolation of each colony is made clear, as is the fact that Kolmakovsky Redoubt has been viewed as perhaps the most isolated community in all of Russia's North American possessions.

The research for this study has led to exciting results. A high percentage of traditional Russian behaviors found at each of the two sites was revealed to be in unmodified form, despite the settlements' cultural isolation from the motherland and resulting potential for acculturative activity. Specifically, out of 45 traditional behaviors identified for Novo-Arkhangel'sk, 41, or 91%, were seen to be unmodified; of the 25 traditional behaviors uncovered at Kolmakovsky Redoubt, 23, or 92%, were also determined to be unmodified. These high percentages are perhaps all the more surprising when one considers the potential of acculturative pressures surrounding the two Russian enclaves and emanating from indigenous Native societies.

The bottom line is that this study has opened a view of a part of Russian America not previously available, and endorses the use of the data retrieved for planning future isolated communities characterized by social justice-friendly environments.

Source: https://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/2158748268.html?FMT=ABS

An American Response to International Chinese Predatory Economic Practices in the Geopolitical Contest of the 21st Century

2019-03-31T20:37:00.000-04:00

An American Response to International Chinese Predatory Economic Practices in the Geopolitical Contest of the 21^st Century

by Rajpurohit, Krishna, M.A., The William Paterson University of New Jersey, 2018, 157; 10839174

Abstract (Summary)

A international economic competition is taking shape on the world stage today. The Chinese hope to challenge America's standing as the leader of the International order. This will be one of the greatest threats to American economic independence, national security, and international prestige in the last one hundred years. This endeavor under way in Asia which begins with a desire to reestablish the Middle Kingdom in China. The force behind this a combination of the Communist Party's desire to hold onto total power and Xi Jingpings growing cult of personality. The United States as the current dominant global economic and security power should expect the Chinese to challenge Americas standing. Not only will they actively attempt to undercut American leadership but their projects will become geopolitical risks. This challenge will become a national security risk once the Chinese reach vital American interests. The US debt, the trade deficit, and the access the Chinese have gained to the American technology sector and defense and industrial base are the most important vulnerabilities that must be addressed. This century's world order will be a product of this great power competition between the established United States and the revisionist Peoples Republic of China.

full document: https://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/2086415991.html?FMT=ABS

CPC delegation visits Morocco to promote ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn

2019-03-30T06:31:00.003-04:00

CPC delegation visits Morocco to promote ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-03/26/c_137925069.htm

CPC delegation visits Morocco to promote ties

RABAT, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A Communist Party of China (CPC) delegation has been visiting Morocco at the invitation of Morocco's Justice and Development Party (JDP) to promote relations between the two countries.

During the visit from Sunday to Wednesday, the delegation, headed by Sun Zhigang, a member of the CPC central committee and secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee, met with Moroccan officials, including Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani.

Apart from Othmani, who is also the JDP secretary general, Sun also met Hakim Benchamach, the Authenticity and Modernity Party general secretary and the speaker of Morocco's House of Advisors.

Sun introduced Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at the meetings.

The two sides exchanged views on promoting bilateral ties, inter-party communication, as well as practical cooperation at local levels.

Sun made a speech at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco on poverty reduction in China's southwestern Guizhou province.

The Moroccan officials spoke highly of the leading role in China and the world of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and said that the Moroccan side is willing to enhance communication with the CPC.

They also expressed the willingness to participate in the construction of the Belt and Road, and continuously advance the strategic partnership between the two sides.

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