The Alexander Hamilton Society hosted a moderated discussion featuring Zack Cooper, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow and former Department of Defense and National Security Council staffer, on Thursday, March 20, in the Rinker Welcome Center.

The talk, titled “A Discussion About Africa, China, and the Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative,” touched on the implications of the growing Chinese economic influence in Africa for U.S. national security, global stability and the sovereignty of African nations. Sophomore Owen Lazarus, vice president of The Alexander Hamilton Society and History major, moderated the discussion.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) also is known as One Belt, One Road. The project is a Chinese-led infrastructure development strategy with the purpose of connecting Asia with Africa and Europe through the integration of land and maritime networks — with the potential of fostering regional integration, trade and economic growth. 

“If you look at Chinese growth patterns, the coastal cities did really well [in the 1990s and into the 2000s],” Cooper said. “But, the areas inland and to the west struggled.” 

So, to better help those latter areas develop the Chinese came up with Belt and Road Initiative.    

“The road is the maritime silk road, so it’s actually over sea, and the belt is over land,” Cooper explained. “The idea is to connect China into the rest of Eurasia more deeply, so it basically runs all the way from western China through parts of Central Asia, the Middle East and into eastern Europe. It’s a massive project that now includes projects in Africa and Latin America, so it is almost global in the way that China is executing it now.” 

Cooper serves as chair of the board of the Open Technology Fund and teaches Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Prior to joining the American Enterprise Institute, he was the senior fellow for Asian security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from Stanford University, Cooper graduated from Princeton University with a doctorate in Security Studies and an Master of Public Administration in International Relations. His published research focuses on a number of aspects of U.S. strategy and alliances in Asia.

During the talk, Cooper also discussed the importance of Africa to the U.S. from the perspective of national security, as well as the U.S. strategic interests in Africa. 

“I think we haven’t had a huge presence in Africa, and that’s been part of the challenge, that there hasn’t been a hegemon to enforce order in Africa,” he said. “If you look at demographic projections over the next 30 to 40 years, the growth in Africa is massive. The growth in some parts of south and southeast Asia is pretty significant too. But there aren’t a lot of places around the world that are growing. … And so, as a national security person, I think that means if [Africa] is where companies are going to be, then that’s a place we need to be.”