Event: Exploding the misconceptions of Belt and Road and Britain’s possible place post Brexit

Date of Recording: 23/01/2019 Description: One of the world’s most ambitious investment and infrastructure development projects, the Belt and Road Initiative is a Chinese government strategy to connect overland and maritime routes across Asia, Africa and Europe. Projected to cost more than US$1tr and involving investments and projects in over seventy states, it is a statement of China’s strategic ambition and growing global role. In his keynote address for the Centre for Defence Studies at King’s College London, Professor Andrew Macleod addresses misconceptions about the Belt and Road Initiative, and places in this broader international context the current debates about Britain’s place in the world after Brexit. Professor Macleod will explore topics including: - The rebalancing of the geopolitical landscape - understanding China’s view of the world and how Belt and Road fits into this mindset; - A closer look at the land and maritime routes being developed; Economic, security and humanitarian implications; and, - How can the Commonwealth best capitalise on the opportunities created by Belt and Road? Bio: Andrew Macleod is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Defence Studies in the School of Security Studies at King’s College London. Professor Macleod is also Vice Chancellor’s distinguished Fellow at Deakin University and a Senior Visiting Lecturer at Tasmania University Law School. At Kings, he contributes to counter-extremism thinking and previously he led the ‘Beyond Shared Value Commission’ looking at ways to measure, in financial terms, external risks to corporations. Professor Macleod’s humanitarian activities included time as Chief of Operations of the UN Emergency Coordination Centre in Pakistan, where he negotiated a complex series of relationships that saw the Pakistan military, international NGOs, UN agencies, US military, UK military and non-state militant groups all playing a role in delivering a successful operation without casualties or conflict. And at the International Committee of the Red Cross, he served in the Balkans and Rwanda during the 1990s. He set up and ran Law of Armed Conflict training with military units in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia that resulted in a measurable decrease in civilian casualties. Amongst other activities in his diverse and international portfolio, Professor MacLeod is the co-founder of Brexit Advisory Services, the Non-Executive Chairman of British based Griffin Law, a Non-Executive Director at New York-based Cornerstone Capital, and an Advisory Board member of International Lawyers for Africa. ______________________________ For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at kcl.ac.uk/warstudies.