Chinese investment in a number of energy and infrastructure projects under its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has resulted in the flow of billions of dollars and thousands of Chinese workers into South & Central Asia, the Middle-East, and Africa. The need to secure its people and property in environments often fraught with terrorism and separatism has given rise to a new phenomenon: Private Security Companies with ‘Chinese Characteristics’.
YCW Shanghai welcomes Dr. Alessandro Arduino, co-director of the Security & Crises Management program at the Shanghai Academy of Social Science (SASS-UNITO), and author of a new book ‘China’s Private Army: Protecting the New Silk Road’, to shed light on the role that Chinese Private Security Companies play in protecting Chinese investments, and the associated socio-political risks of Chinese ODI along the Belt and Road. The talk will be a followed by an audience Q&A and please stay on after to continue the conversation over drinks.
Dr. Alessandro Arduino two decades of experience in China encompasses security analysis and crisis management. His main research interests include Private Military Security Corporations, China’s political economy, Sino-Central Asia relations, Sovereign Wealth Funds, China’s security and foreign policy. He is the author of several books and he has published papers and commentaries in various journals in Italian, English and Chinese languages.
He has been appointed Knight of the Order of the Italian Star by the President of the Italian Republic.
