China Is Building the Most Extensive Global Commercial Military Empire in History

Great nations invest in innovations and infrastructure, and societies in decline allow those investments to crumble. “China views almost no place as uncontested,” writes Steve LeVine for Quartz, about the nation’s strategy to project power and influence. “Chinese-financed and -built dams, roads, railroads, natural gas pipelines, ports, and airports are either in place or will be from Samoa to Rio de Janeiro, St. Petersburg to Jakarta, Mombasa to Vanuatu, and from the Arctic to Antarctica. Many are built in service of current and prospective mines, oilfields, and other businesses back to China, and at times to markets abroad.” The plans, part deliberate and part commercial pursuit for profits, are as much about linking infrastructure as new projects, LeVine adds. Observers and Chinese officials point out that the country is only following the model of American expansionism in the 1800s. – YaleGlobal