Whether it is the US stick or the Chinese carrot, foreign policy boils down to the use of money, not the military
- China dangles carrots by offering belt and road investments, and its vast market and trade, while the US wields the stick of sanctions and threats to withdraw financial support. But both rely on the common influence of money to persuade others
Idealists might not like it, but geopolitics and money go hand in hand. China is using largesse to extend its global footprint. Under President Donald Trump, the United States seem less inclined to have boots on the ground in faraway places and more inclined to shape events through the threat of sanctions or withdrawal of financial support.
Beijing is dangling carrots while Washington prefers a stick approach. But even as the two apply diametrically opposite strategies, the use of money, rather than the deployment of military assets, lies at the heart of both nations’ foreign policy objectives.
“Additionally, [the] Solomon Islands will greatly benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative”, which will provide infrastructure development that will “spur our economic development both in the urban centres and in the rural areas”, Sogavare added.
