Economic corridors in Asia : paradigm of integration? A reflection for Latin America. Varios autores
of key actors – those in power, the private sector, as well as marginalized communities – could determine modes of association that were not thought possible a few years ago.
There is a wide variety of opportunities for countries all around the world, and Latin America is not the exception to this; the success of China and India in bringing millions of people out of poverty and destitution is an experience that is appealing to many policy makers in different latitudes, despite the many other remaining challenges. These countries have recently grown at formidable rates, and it has resulted in better living conditions for large sectors of their societies. Compared to the challenges faced in the West by policies that could not prevent the collapse of the economic systems of some countries, and convulsed political systems, the policies adopted in that part of the world seem substantially more resilient.
Nevertheless, all this comes with a catch (caveat?). The emphasis on “the East model”, and particularly that of China, is not on liberty or on the protection of rights, but on having ‘the right government’. This makes some in the West uncomfortable when addressing the inevitability of a new paradigm in the international global order but, at the same time, makes the discussions about the opportunities and implications of it more urgent.
‘Asian Economic Corridors: Paradigms of Integration? A Reflection for Latin America’ is a comprehensive study aimed at addressing some of the most challenging questions of this new reality: What is the reach of the new silk road for the global south in terms of capital flows? What is its impact on regional integration strategies in the global south? Which lessons for Latin America can be learnt from the experience of other regions’ relationships with China? What opportunities in terms of development of infrastructure does this new reality have in store for Latin American countries? What are some of the costs?
The emphasis of the book on the corridors, not only illustrates the fast developments in infrastructure and connectivity initiatives coming out of Asia, but also the implications they have for topics as diverse as foreign policy, integration programs, public discourse and the adoption and contagion of new production strategies, among others.
By bringing together an important number of scholars from both, multiple disciplines and different regions, this book offers a thorough analysis of the challenges and opportunities posed by the changing global order resulting from the efforts led by China.
This is also a timely book. The deteriorating leadership in the West demands opening the public arena for discussions that cover a wide range of topics, from new models of growth and development to the opportunities and risks associated with them. These are precisely some of the discussions the authors of this book bring to the table, and the ones that will be at the frontline of political economy discussions in the near future.
JULIÁN ARÉVALO
Dean, School of Economics
Externado de Colombia University
SORAYA CARO VARGAS
1. THE HISTORY OF A MULTICULTURAL ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR
For a decade now, the Rectorate of the Externado University of Colombia and the School of Finance, Government and International Relations (FIGRI), have given a fillip to the promotion and strengthening of ties between their students and teachers and the countries of Asia and Africa. Some expressions of this commitment are: the creation of the Centre of Contemporary Studies on India and South Asia (Cesicam) in 2013, groups of scholars engaged in the systematic study of countries like China and Japan and the recent establishment of the Centre of Turkish and Caucasian Studies, with the support of internationally recognized partners such as business experts, academics and diplomatic missions.
In order to forge links with networks of specialists, during 2017 and 2018, CESICAM approached universities and think tanks in Eurasia, such as the Technical University of the Middle East METU in Ankara, the Islamabad Institute of Strategic Studies, (ISSI) in Pakistan or Jindal Global University in India, which have all been active participants in the connectivity debates and on the implications of the China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). CESICAM scholars also attended international conferences which engaged with trends in connectographic studies like the one organized by the Leuven Center for Global Studies in August 2018, The Belt and Road Initiative and Global Governance (BRIGG).
Since there was a paucity of comprehensive academic analyses on the evolution of the BRI project in Colombia, researchers from the Centre of Specialized Studies (CIPE) and CESICAM, located in Ankara, Bogota and Johannesburg, decided to design an interdisciplinary research project in March 2018, in which scholars from different areas would present their findings on the state of the art of BRI in their lands, as well on the existence of other transregional routes and modes of integration, in such a way that, those visions became a reference point to Latin American governments, that were already invited by President Xi Jinping to be part of the BRI. Researchers from Turkey, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India, Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico participated in the initiative. This publication is an academic journey through a multicultural and multidisciplinary corridor; an experience of collaborative work and thematic construction by a non-formal group of researchers from different latitudes, who share their concern about the profound changes that the accelerated physical and technological connectivity in the world will signify for the study and exercise of international relations in the near future, and in the definition of the foreign policy of States.
2. THE SEARCH FOR SECURITY VS. GROWING UNCERTAINTY
Global production, information flows, the supply of basic resources, national security, the provision of services across borders, education, after sale services, the movement of people, telecommunications and freight transport are all linked to the networks of functional connectivity which provide the necessary physical and digital infrastructure for competitive connections between suppliers and consumers. Connectivity is a sine qua non in the dynamics of integration, internationalization and development. With this in mind, the present volume tries to find answers to two questions: What are the effects of these new routes on the national sovereignty and economic and social development of the people whose lives they crisscross and for the consolidation of a new regionalism and multipolar world? How will the economic corridors between Asia, Europe and Africa become reference points for Latin America in the immediate future?
The authors give us their vision on the different stages of the corridors in Asia and Africa. They offer recommendations on how to advance discussions on the socio-economic reach of the routes and they explain the delicate situations which must be handled for their existence or, they analyse the impact of the so called “connectography” (Khanna, 2014) in the design of national development policies in regional groups and global governance. The results fill a vacuum. Of course, Latin America has been a late arrival to the study of the implications for global connectivity and these new routes. The contributions of the researchers have become a relevant tool of analysis which fulfills a historical need and aims to provide scholarly inputs for governments, businessmen, communities and decision makers.
2.1. Methodology and Techniques
The implicit message to the researchers in our call for proposals was that their contributions dwell on the possible economic and social effects of the routes and economic corridors in their regions giving inputs and references to Latin American scholars. From the perspective of their specializations, they used deductive and analytic methods during their process of production of knowledge. (Muñoz, 1998, pp. 192-193). They used primarily