Launched during last year’s G-7 Summit in Cornwall, England, Build Back Better World is a global infrastructure financing scheme meant to compete directly with China›s One Belt One Road, or OBOR, a trillion dollar initiative under which nearly 150 countries have signed up for and has been a centerpiece of China’s foreign policy since it was started in 2013.
Yet in spite of Washington›s efforts to push Russia out of Ukraine and counter a rising China, one can›t help but notice that most developing countries have decided to steer clear of supporting America›s economic sanctions against Russia or taking a clear stance on the Taiwan issue.
In some cases countries have even supported Russia and have been careful not to criticize China over its recent incursions in Taiwanese waters and airspace. For sure one of the underlying reasons for this behavior is purely pragmatic: most developing countries don’t want to be seen taking sides with America in superpower rivalries, mostly out of the fear they would be punished by either Moscow or Beijing through economic sanctions for doing so.
But there is another factor driving such reticence, one that is often overlooked. Democracy has been in a global recession for most of the last decade, and as more and more illiberal leaders have come to power there has been a widening circle of ties between authoritarian states.