China’s Belt and Road infrastructure plan has involved around 42 low and middle-income countries that have borrowed from the country for the construction of energy sources, roads, and railways that are funded through lenders in the country. However, the borrowing countries have major debts that in some cases have been reduced, such as the 19 African countries that struggled financially during the Covid-19 pandemic. These debts have been found to be unreported across the world and have been under investigation ever since AidData’s discoveries in this field, which have stretched from 2000 to 2017 in the most recent debt report. Furthermore, scholars are addressing this infrastructure plan as a modern Silk Road, suggesting that China’s influence in the economy is expanding to countries in every corner of the world.

I would like to learn more about how Chinese officials go about selecting countries that they lend to. Are they aware of the higher than average interest rates that they use to profit from countries that they know may be unable to pay their debt back? Do they take into account the environmental consequences of greenhouse gases that emerge from using coal-fired power plants as a source of energy? How can China contribute to sustainable development both economically and environmentally? How will Biden’s “Build Back a Better World” initiative counter China’s infrastructure policy in an effort to bring relief to countries that are already burdened by debt?

The international community can disagree on many things, but one thing that I think most scholars would agree on is that intelligence is an essential factor for policymaking in the government. If we do not know where the threat is at the appropriate time with accurate data, policymakers will have insufficient data to cast valid judgements on the nation’s relations with other global entities. The practice of using statistical knowledge from organizations such as the C.I.A. and the Department of Homeland security is what propels policy into an action that will lead the nation into a more sustainable future. This applies to unreported debts from neighboring countries due to the fact that there needs to be more transparency in government, which will in theory make all participating countries better off.