Executive Roundtable Series with Danny Russel
VIEW EVENT DETAILS(President's Circle Event)
Navigating The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
Launched in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign and economic policy, and in 2017, was enshrined into the Communist Party constitution. The BRI is a Chinese-helmed infrastructure development effort which seeks to foster economic development, bolster connectivity, and facilitate trade across more than 70 countries. From the outset, Beijing’s trial-and-error approach to implementing the BRI has evolved from vague slogans to a more carefully structured process. While the initiative marks its sixth anniversary, the BRI has encountered significant obstacles and challenges in implementing infrastructure projects. Due China’s opaque approach to BRI, the initiative has elicited both praise and criticism from the international community, ranging from viewing the BRI as China’s benevolent effort to development critical infrastructure to a nefarious effort by Beijing to boost its geopolitical and economic influence across the world.
As a result of China’s trial-and-error approach and underscored during the recent Second Belt and Road Forum in April 2019, the BRI is malleable and continuing to evolve. How will China address these systemic issues in the BRI? What measures can be undertaken to improve project implementation and outcomes for both the project host countries and Beijing? What role can the international community play in helping both China and host countries ensure mutually beneficial outcomes?
Agenda
11:00 - 11:30 AM Registration
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Event and Q&A Discussion
RSVP: Please email James Gale at [email protected] if you are interested in attending. For more about our President's Circle membership, please email Palarp Jumpasut at [email protected].
About Danny Russel
Danny Russel is Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). Previously he served as a Diplomat in Residence and Senior Fellow with ASPI for a one year term. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary on July 12, 2013, Mr. Russel served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs. During his tenure there, he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region, including efforts to strengthen alliances, deepen U.S. engagement with multilateral organizations, and expand cooperation with emerging powers in the region.
Prior to joining the NSC in January of 2009, he served as Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs and had assignments as U.S. Consul General in Osaka-Kobe, Japan (2005-2008); Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands (2002-2005); Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus (1999-2002); Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering (1997-99); Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1995-96); Political Section Unit Chief at U.S. Embassy Seoul, Republic of Korea (1992-95); Political Advisor to the Permanent Representative to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Pickering (1989-92); Vice Consul in Osaka and Branch Office Manager in Nagoya, Japan (1987-89); and Assistant to the Ambassador to Japan, former Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (1985-87).
Asia Society Northern California hosts private Executive Roundtable Briefings with industry leaders every month in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Program topics are around headline news, business analysis, and critical issues coming out of Asia. These monthly briefings, launched in September 2017, have grown in popularity to generate wait-lists quickly. Most events are off-the-record to encourage open debate and discussion.