Build Back Better World (B3W) vs the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI)
The Build Back Better World (B3W) project – a $40 trillion investment venture undertaken by the G7 states in June 2021 – aims to contest China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While B3W only exists on paper, BRI has already embedded its roots in several regions. The author, Muhammad Ali Memon, notes that in their race to achieve economic hegemony, the G7 states and China are investing in developing states and creating a cycle of economic dependency akin to economic imperialism. He argues that the B3W contracts will follow a pattern similar to China’s debt contracts, giving the lending state significant power over the borrowing state’s decision-making process.