Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a heavily orchestrated “Belt and Road” forum in Beijing. The two-day event attracted 29 heads of state, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and 1,200 delegates from over 100 countries. Xi called China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) the “project of the century.” The 65 countries involved comprise two-thirds of the world’s land mass and include some four and a half billion people.
Originally announced in 2013, Xi’s plan to integrate Eurasia through a trillion dollars of investment in infrastructure stretching from China to Europe, with extensions to Southeast Asia and East Africa, has been termed China’s new Marshall Plan as well as its bid for a grand strategy. Some observers also saw the Forum as part of Xi’s effort to fill the vacuum left by Donald Trump’s abandonment of Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
China’s ambitious initiative would provide badly needed highways, rail lines, pipelines, ports, and power plants in poor countries.
Horizons Hosts James Dorsey for a Discussion on Middle East Escalation
The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) hosted an award-winning journalist and scholar Dr. James M. Dorsey for a special Horizons Discussion on June 23rd, 2025. In conversation with Horizons Managing Editor Stefan Antić, Dorsey unpacked the lightning-fast escalation between Israel and Iran, the Trump administration’s divided response, and the wider stakes for regional and great-power politics.
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Vuk Jeremić at St. Petersburg Economic Forum: “We Are Living in a Time of Grave Geopolitical Instability”
St. Petersburg, June 2025 – Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on the high-level panel “Eco-Rethinking of the Global Financial System,” Vuk Jeremić, President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), delivered a stark warning about the risks posed by escalating global tensions to any serious attempt at international financial system reform.
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CIRSD Hosts Ugandan Presidential Advisor Odrek Rwabwogo in Latest Horizons Discussion: A Deep Dive into Africa’s Industrial Future
The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) hosted Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, Uganda’s Presidential Advisor on Exports and Industrial Development, as the featured guest in the latest installment of its flagship Horizons Discussion series — the main dialogue platform of Horizons journal.
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CIRSD Vice President Stefan Jovanović Speaks at Regional Conference on China’s Role in the Western Balkans
Belgrade, June 5, 2025 – Stefan Jovanović, Vice President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), participated in the regional conference “Democracy Meets Strategy: Parliament’s Place in China Policy”, held in Belgrade. The event gathered parliamentarians, policymakers, and experts from across the Western Balkans to examine the region’s evolving cooperation with the People’s Republic of China.
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