Global Cost of China's Belt and Road Initiative

"A Silk Road or a Spider's Web?"

In The Global Cost of China's Belt and Road Initiative, Wayne Gombar delivers a compelling, unflinching investigation into what many hail as the most ambitious infrastructure project of the 21st century-and what others warn is a carefully masked strategy of global entrapment.

Launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promised prosperity, connectivity, and mutual development. But behind its glittering facade lies a troubling pattern of ballooning national debts, strategic port seizures, eroded sovereignty, and environmental degradation. Gombar unpacks the geopolitical calculus and veiled ambitions that underlie this trillion-dollar campaign, blending sharp analysis with eye-opening case studies from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Djibouti, Kenya, and beyond.

This book is not anti-China-it is pro-transparency. It calls into question the narratives of "win-win cooperation" and "development diplomacy," offering a powerful counterpoint for policymakers, scholars, and global citizens who refuse to accept infrastructure imperialism as the new normal.

Are we witnessing a modern Silk Road-or are we walking into a gilded trap?