The China-Global South Podcast

Eric Olander

<p>A weekly discussion on Chinese engagement in the developing world from the news team of The China-Global South Project (CGSP). Join hosts Eric Olander in Vietnam and Cobus van Staden in South Africa for insightful interviews with scholars, analysts, and journalists from around the world. You'll also get regular updates from CGSP's editors in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.</p>

  • 45 minutes 13 seconds
    US and China Take Divergent Paths in the New West Asia

    The United States and China are pursuing sharply different strategies in a region that is no longer best understood as the "Middle East," but as part of a broader Asian-centered geopolitical system historically described as "West Asia."

    This vast region stretches from countries along the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, all the way to the Eastern Mediterranean. While the U.S. remains the undisputed military hegemon in this theater, China is steadily becoming the indispensable economic power, providing access to vast pools of capital, new technology, and expanding trade.

    Mohammed Soliman, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and a director at the geopolitical advisory firm McLarty Associates, joins Eric from Washington, D.C., to discuss his new book that explores how the U.S., China, and other powers are adapting to this new expanded view of the Middle East known as "West Asia."

    Purchase the book: West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East by Mohammed Soliman

    📌 Topics covered in this episode:

    • Why the Middle East is increasingly being reframed as West Asia • China's quiet diplomatic outreach to Israel and the Palestinians • Surging Chinese trade and bank lending in the Gulf • The Asianization of Gulf economies through trade, energy, and demographics • Whether China will translate economic power into military presence • America's role as a resident security power with 50000 troops in the region • Why U.S. grand strategy may require doing more with less in West Asia • The India Middle East Europe Corridor and connectivity as instruments of power • AI compute infrastructure and the Gulf's post-oil transformation • Israel's evolving role in regional security architecture • How great power competition is reshaping alliances and coalitions • Whether values or interests will define the next phase of U.S. engagement

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    17 February 2026, 4:49 am
  • 32 minutes 34 seconds
    The Development Finance Corporation and the US-China competition in the Global South

    When the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) was launched in 2019, a big part of its mandate from Congress was to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative. That sentiment was a key theme on Capitol Hill late last year during the DFC's Congressional reauthorization, when lawmakers from both parties made urgent appeals for the agency to do more to challenge China in the Global South.

    Congress nearly tripled the DRC's budget from $60 billion to $205 billion to be used over the next five years. While that is a substantial increase, it's just a small fraction of what Chinese entities spend each year on BRI projects.

    Karthik Sankaran and Dan Ford, researchers at the Quincy Institute in Washington, D.C., join Eric to discuss why they contend it's a bad idea for the DFC to compete head-on with China, rather than focus on its original mandate to build market capacity in poorer nations.

    📌 Topics covered in this episode:

    • The expanded mandate and six-year reauthorization of the US Development Finance Corporation • Why countering China now drives US development finance strategy • How the DFC compares with China's Belt and Road Initiative • The limits of development finance as a tool of great power competition • Critical minerals energy, and supply chains as DFC priorities • The Lobito Corridor and overlapping US-China interests • Why Global South countries resist choosing sides • How the DFC could compete more effectively by focusing on development

    Show Notes:

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    10 February 2026, 3:29 am
  • 23 minutes 42 seconds
    Why the Belt and Road Is Back in a Big Way

    There's been a lot of discussion in recent years about the financial health of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Critics contend the BRI became overstretched, bankrupting borrowers and straining creditors suffering from a weakening Chinese economy.

    Even the Chinese government sought to reframe the BRI with its "small yet beautiful" tagline to reflect a new era of purported austerity.

    And while all of that was certainly true when it comes to state-backed Chinese entities that used to be at the forefront of the BRI, new data from Griffith University in Australia and the Green Finance and Development Center at Fudan University reveals that Chinese private enterprises are now leading the way.

    Christoph Nedopil, director of the Griffith Asia Institute, joins Eric to review the 2025 BRI data and explain what led to a record year of BRI engagement around the world.

    📌 Topics covered in this episode:

    • China's Belt and Road investment surge in 2025
    • Why the BRI narrative of decline no longer holds
    • Africa's return as a top destination for Chinese investment
    • The rise of fossil fuel projects alongside green energy
    • How geopolitics and US trade policy shape BRI decisions
    • The growing role of Chinese private companies overseas
    • What the latest BRI data signals for the years ahead

    Show Notes:

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    3 February 2026, 6:03 am
  • 34 minutes 2 seconds
    How South Asian States Navigate Rivalries Between the U.S., China, and India

    As debate intensifies over the unraveling of the U.S.-led international order, sparked by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's stark remarks at Davos, small states are being forced to rethink how they survive and advance in an increasingly fragmented global system.

    Carney captured the anxiety shared by many global leaders when he bluntly declared that the U.S.-led international order is over.

    In this episode of the China Global South Podcast, Eric is joined by Sagar Prasai, an independent advisor to international development agencies, and Mandakini D. Surie, an independent development consultant with over two decades of experience across governments, NGOs, and think tanks. The discussion draws on their recent report examining how small states in South Asia are navigating a rapidly emerging multipolar world shaped in part by China's expanding role.

    Building on their research, Prasai and Surie unpack the strategic calculations unfolding across Asia—dynamics that closely mirror the pressures facing smaller and developing countries across the Global South as they adapt to a shifting balance of power.

    📌 Topics covered in this episode:

    • Decline of the U.S.-led international order
    • Small states' strategies in a multipolar world
    • China's growing influence in South Asia
    • Hedging, alignment, and strategic autonomy
    • Lessons for the wider Global South

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    30 January 2026, 2:02 pm
  • 50 minutes 24 seconds
    Africa and the New World Order: U.S. Pulls Back and China Moves Forward

    The collapse of the post-war international system now underway will have a disproportionate impact on African countries that rely heavily on multilateral bodies like the UN. Beyond a pull-back of aid and humanitarian assistance, African countries must also contend with an increasingly hostile United States.

    Dozens of African countries have been targeted by the Trump administration for visa restrictions, trade sanctions, and regularly denigrated by the president himself. At the same time, U.S. diplomats across the continent were ordered by the State Department in January to remind African governments to express more gratitude to the U.S. for its "generosity."

    Judd Devermont, the former top Africa strategist at the White House during the Biden administration and now an operating partner at Kupanda Capital in Washington, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the future of U.S.-Africa relations and China's expanding presence on the continent.

    📌 Topics covered in this episode:

    • China's sharp drop in Africa lending and what it signals
    • Why big Chinese infrastructure projects are fading
    • U.S. Africa relations after USAID and PEPFAR cuts
    • The leaked State Department email and Africa as a "peripheral" priority
    • America's collapsing credibility in Africa and beyond
    • Why China is seen as an opportunity, not an ally
    • Critical minerals and the limits of extractive diplomacy
    • What the shifting U.S.-China-Africa balance means next

    Show Notes:

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    27 January 2026, 3:42 am
  • 1 hour 3 minutes
    China's Place in the New Post-American International Order

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week will likely be remembered as one of the most significant orations of the early 21st century. Carney channeled the fear and frustration of many global leaders when he defiantly declared that the U.S.-led international order is over.

    The "rupture" that Carney referenced in his address has profound consequences for China as it moves to reshape a part of this new international order to better align with its interests.

    Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior research scholar at Columbia University, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why this is such a pivotal time for China as it moves to become a peer power of the United States, at least economically, without triggering the so-called "Thuycides Trap" that dictates this kind of rivalry often leads to war.

    Show Notes:

    📌 Topics covered in this episode:

    • Mark Carney's Davos speech and the declaration of a global rupture
    • The collapse of the rules-based international order
    • What a post-American world looks like for middle powers
    • Economic coercion and the weaponization of supply chains
    • Where China fits in the new global order
    • China's long economic war and leverage strategy
    • The Global South's trust gap with China
    • Why the debt trap narrative persists despite evidence
    • China as an opportunity rather than ally in emerging markets
    • The rapid erosion of U.S. global credibility

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    23 January 2026, 3:48 am
  • 35 minutes 4 seconds
    China's Low-Key Response to the Iran Crisis

    China was among the first and most vocal opponents of the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. Curiously, though, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to launch military strikes against Iran as Tehran dealt with a massive popular uprising, China was largely silent.

    Both Venezuela and Iran have high-level strategic partnerships with China, yet the Chinese leadership's responses to the crises in each country are radically different.

    William (Bill) Figueroa, a leading China-Iran scholar and an assistant professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, joins Eric to discuss his latest CGSP column, which explains Beijing's low-key response and why the strategy is often misunderstood by many U.S. and European stakeholders.

    📌 Topics covered in this episode:

    • Why Iran's latest protests are more serious than past unrest
    • How the crackdown escalated and what makes it unprecedented
    • U.S. regime-change talk and the "boxing in China" narrative
    • China's real exposure to Iranian and Venezuelan oil
    • Debunking the myth of a deep, all-weather China–Iran alliance
    • Why Beijing stayed quiet on Iran but reacted strongly on Venezuela
    • Hard power limits and why China won't intervene militarily
    • The quiet influence China already exerts behind the scenes

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander |

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    20 January 2026, 2:25 am
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    Is the Crisis in Venezuela a "Setback" for China? Eric Olander on Sinica with Kaiser Kuo

    In this special bonus episode, Eric speaks with Kaiser Kuo, host of the popular Sinica Podcast, about China's response to the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

    Many U.S. and European analysts have framed Maduro's downfall as a "setback" or even an "embarrassment" for Beijing, but while that may be true, Eric argues that it's also premature to make such declarations less than a week after Maduro's downfall. After all, U.S.-led military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya all started well but ended up being very costly failures for Washington.

    📌 Topics covered include:

    • China's reaction to Maduro's detention
    • Why "China setback" claims may be premature
    • Beijing's messaging vs. Chinese social media
    • Why Venezuela ≠ Taiwan
    • China's economic exposure in Venezuela
    • The rise and fall of oil-backed loans
    • What "all-weather partnership" really means
    • Panama Canal risks for China
    • Limits of U.S. hemispheric leverage
    • China's Latin America knowledge gap
    • Beijing's coup-response playbook
    • Military lessons—and misreadings
    • Instability as a threat to China's trade model
    • What signals to watch next

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    9 January 2026, 3:39 am
  • 52 minutes 11 seconds
    What Maduro's Detention Means for China

    One of the prevailing narratives that's emerged following the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and the detention of President Nicolás Maduro is that this is a major setback for China. Some analysts have called it a "strategic failure" on Beijing's part, while others have described it as "reality check" for China's role as a "global player."

    But China's ability to influence events in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America is extremely limited, so the assessment that what happened in Caracas was a blow to Beijing may also be overstated.

    Alonso Illueca, CGSP's non-resident fellow for Latin America and the Caribbean, joins Eric from Panama City to discuss whether Maduro's capture presents new risks or opportunities for China.

    📌 Topics covered include:

    • China's response to the U.S. detention of Nicolás Maduro
    • Why Venezuela matters to China: oil, loans, and exposure
    • Why Venezuela is not a Taiwan precedent
    • The U.S. "Our Hemisphere" doctrine and spheres of influence
    • China's special envoy visit to Caracas
    • Short-term setbacks vs. long-term gains for China
    • Electoral pushback against China in Latin America
    • Panama tensions over ports and Chinese-linked infrastructure
    • Why Latin America cannot quickly decouple from China
    • Military force vs. economic leverage in U.S.–China rivalry

    Show Notes:

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    6 January 2026, 7:51 am
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    2025 China-Global South Year in Review

    In this special year-end edition of The China-Global South Podcast, Eric, Cobus, and Géraud look back on the top stories of 2025 and look ahead to the key trend to watch in 2026.

    📌 Topics covered include:

    • Simandou goes online (Guinea) and the iron ore geopolitics shift
    • Zambia's Kafue River spill and the China narrative battle
    • China's manufacturing push, overcapacity, and export pressures
    • Soybeans and South America's growing leverage in U.S.–China trade
    • China–India détente and what it changes (and doesn't)
    • G20 turbulence around South Africa and global governance fractures
    • 2026 outlook: Southeast Asia rivalry, Zimbabwe lithium value-add, Senegal hidden debt

    Show Notes:

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque | @christiangeraud

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

    Join us Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    25 December 2025, 12:30 pm
  • 40 minutes 2 seconds
    Jane Perlez on the New Era of U.S.-China Competition and Rivalry

    The increasingly acrimonious U.S.-China relationship is the defining trend of this era, upending global politics, economics, and security, especially across the Global South. Countries that have worked hard from having to pick sides in this new competition, may longer have that luxury as this rivalry intensifies.

    Jane Perlez, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and a former longtime China correspondent for The New York Times, has been covering this story since the 1980s. Now, together with acclaimed Harvard University China scholar Rana Mitter, she's launched season 3 of her award-winning podcast Face Off: The U.S. vs. China, where they explore the key trends reshaping ties between these two powers.

    Jane joins Eric from Sydney to discuss the forces driving this rivalry: leadership personality, domestic pressure, technological competition, and the tightening link between geopolitics and economic strategy.

    📌 Key topics explored:

    • How China defines and uses foreign aid
    • Aid vs development finance in China's system
    • The role of Chinese development banks
    • Myths around "free" Western and Chinese aid
    • Aid as diplomatic influence
    • China's engagement with regional blocs (AU, ASEAN)
    • What China's aid strategy means for the West

    Show Notes:

    Listen to season 2 of Face Off: The U.S. vs. China on Spotify

    Join the Discussion:

    X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

    Now on Bluesky! Follow CGSP at @chinagsproject.bsky.social

    Follow CGSP in Spanish and French:

    Join us on Patreon! Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth

    22 December 2025, 6:24 am
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