China’s most consequential diplomatic initiative in recent years has been the launch of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Nearly 60 countries have now joined the bank, suggesting that the new institution is viewed as a useful complement to existing international financial institutions rather than as a threat. But as the architects of the bank construct its foundation under the global spotlight, it remains to be seen how the bank will differentiate itself from its Bretton Woods counterparts and expand China’s influence in the region.

The gravest threat to American global leadership is neither Russia nor China but continued interest group-driven Congressional abandonment of the kind of balanced strategy that won the Cold War.

Many China watchers believe that the ties between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest level since Tian’anment. President Xi can nevertheless reassure the American political establishment that he is leading China in the right direction, and not trying to turn it into another version of the former Soviet Union.

Although One Belt, One Road is hailed as one of the grandest flagship projects of Beijing, it may have a bumpy start in Central Asia. Corruption scandals may overshadow laudable development achievements, whilst the new Silk Road may emerge as the Golden Road for kleptocratic governments and rent-seeking elites.

More than 60 countries and institutions have embraced President Xi Jinping’s call for connectivity programs both within Asia and between Asia and Europe, both by land and by the sea, to strengthen traditional infrastructure and build highways of trade, finance, and cultural exchange.

It’s my great pleasure to be invited to speak at the Singapore-China Business Forum. Let me commend the organizers for taking this timely and important theme.

The partnership of developing countries offers a benign counterweight to Western dominance in the world, and can help shape a “new normal” in international relations.

The upcoming 2016 Philippine Presidential election will have significant bearing on the future of infrastructure development and relations in the South China Sea. The next Philippines president may push closer to the U.S., while some want greater economic and humanitarian aid from China.

The new AIIB reflects China’s opportunity to assist the developing world, but how China cooperates with India, and U.S. interests in the Asia Pacific, will determine the effectiveness of the new Bank.

The key legal framework for the China-initiated regional multilateral institution – the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) – was inked by representatives of the bank’s 57 founding members in Beijing last Monday. For China and the U.S., the AIIB is not about win-lose. A win-win result can be achieved if both sides are more open-minded.