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Questions: 1.Chinas Belt and Road Initiative could well Exacerbate Bilateral Rivalries and Regional Flashpoints rather than Ameliorate them. Do you agree? Support your view using one or more examples of Bilateral Rivalries/Regional Flashpoints. 2.Asia faces a unique set of Environmental Challenges and Opportunities Compared with other regions of the world. In your view, what are the most Critical Environmental challenges and the Most Significant Opportunities in the Region? Answers: 1.It is indubitable that the Asian economies continue to thrive significantly in the recent decades. Nonetheless, the flourishing and the sustainability of these economies are primarily threatened by some severe environmental challenges. These challenges, on the one hand, pose problems such as the food security, regional stability, and undermining of future growth. Consequently, there is the need for the policymakers and other stakeholders across Asia to address these issues. Despite these challenges, Asia, a well-doing economy, stands numerous opportunities compared to the other regions in the world. The primary role of this paper's section, therefore, is to discuss some of the critical environmental challenges as well as the opportunities in the Asian region. Fundamentally, Asia is faced with numerous environmental problems and threat. Among the serious challenges, and that will be discussed in this section include; deforestation, land degradation, water management, climate change, and air pollution. The continued deforestation and land degradation in Asia depict the region's widespread exploitation of the natural resources (Patz et al. 2014: 1566). Patz and the colleagues (2014; 1366) argue that India, one of the Asian countries, predicts that more than half of its land is degraded. Deforestation and land degradation are two much related environmental challenges. Uncontrolled trees clearing in Asia, like other parts of the world is reported to be the leading cause of soil salinity, erosion, and interference with the ground water table (Patz et al. 2014: 1578). Similarly, deforestation in Asia accounts for desertification in some of the regions. It has also been found out that clear-felling transforms the fertile lands into barren lands t hereby affecting crop production. Researchers have identified some of the major factors that lead to deforestation and land degradation within Asia region. These include the expansion of urban areas and emerging encroachment of forest land, increased market forces for resources such as palm oil and timber products, intensive farming, corruption that paves the way for exploitation of natural resources and reduced regulation. Additionally, the problem of water management is an environmental issue that attracted substantial attention by the environmentalists in Asia (Surendra et al. 2014: 851). According to Surendra et al. (2014: 851), clean and safe water is not only used for agricultural activities but also for industrial production. Human life is also dependent on fresh water. In general, water sources attract many users as well as uses. Consequently, if water is not well managed or if there is competition for it, the outcome is always degradation or over-exploitation. Thus, Asia water management is cumbered with major setbacks due to the increased water degradation. Some of the cited factors that have led to poor water management in Asia include; excessive dams building, excessive extraction of groundwater, and increased pollution from the industrial and human wastes Surendra et al. (2014: 859). Although some efforts have been put across to improve access to water and sanitation, many of the Asian regi ons, however, remain underprivileged due to inadequate water facilities. In addition, the situation further deteriorates following the alteration of rainfall patterns, usually precipitated by climate change. The weakened East Asian and Indian monsoons are said to be the primary causes of climate change in Asia (Apergis and Ozturk, 2015): 17). Apergis and Ozturk (2015: 16) notes that a large population of Asia live in coastal and low-lying areas thus leading to pervasive water insecurity issue. Also, the problem aggravates due to the climate change which is not a new phenomenon in Asia. It is reported that the change in climate and ensuing change in rainfall patterns is the leading cause of both agriculture and food security in Asia (Rasul, 2014: 40). It is thus anticipated that the problem of agricultural production and food security will worsen in 2030 (Rasul, 2014: 42). Other than food insecurity, the extreme weather conditions in Asia may result in the decline in marine organisms, emergence and spread of tropical diseases, and flooding. Another major environmental challenge in Asia is air pollution. Notably, clean air is a determinant of the human health, environmental processes, and functioning of other organisms (Lelieveld et al. 2015: 368). Air pollution occurs both outdoors and indoors. The former is mainly caused by motor vehicle emission and industrial production while the latter is primarily caused by burning of solid fuels. For this reason, air pollution has been cited as the major cause of illness and death in Asia's large cities as well as in the poor rural areas (Lelieveld et al. 2015: 368). According to Lelieveld et al. ( 2015: 370), it is not uncommon for air pollution in the developing Asian cities exceeds safe levels. More appalling is the increased emissions of particulate matter and harmful gases from the industries and the motor vehicles versus the increasing number of the urban population exposed to the emissions. Loomis (2013: 1262) contends that air pollution accounts for the increased cases of cancer and respiratory related illnesses among the habitats of the urban centres. In spite of the environmental challenges that Asia faces, it has outstanding opportunities towards dealing with the problems. Asia recognizes the importance of managing the environmental resources and the role it plays in promoting the economic growth (de Oliveira et al., 2013: 2). For this reason, Asia has re-evaluated the benefits of the environment and its relationship with the economic growth. Therefore, Asia has a more proactive and holistic approach to the matters of environment de Oliveira et al., 2013: 3). In this case, therefore, there has been a significant improvement in environmental governance as well as embracing the partnership of the civil society, private, and public sectors in the view of ensuring sustainable development. There has also been the formulation and implementation of the public policies and institutions that enforce environmental laws. Additionally, the decentralization of environmental management in the region has also been a great opportunity that has seen the reduction of some of the environmental challenges (Surendra et al., 2014:848). In conclusion, Asia faces serious environmental issues, and it is thus conclusive that challenges call for urgent intervention. Additionally, two factors that stand out when it comes to the causes of these environmental challenges are the increased industrial production and population growth. However, Asia has better opportunities in dealing with the challenges of climate change, deforestation, land degradation, air pollution and water management. It is thus evident that the implementation of the environmental policies and continued collaboration between the private and public sector will help reduce the adverse environmental effect in Asia. 2.The China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) also termed as One Belt, One Road (OBOR) is such an ambitious economic and foreign policy. The policy is thus focused on strengthening the China's economy through the building of infrastructure that will enable the connection of China with the other neighbouring regions (Cheah et al. 2017: 4). The initiative was first launched in 2013 by China president Xi Jinping. One of the objectives of the program is to curb the continued disparity within the region (Cheah et al. 2017: 4). Following the initiative's focus on domestic development, it is likely that it will spur growth in the China's underdeveloped hinterland. China, in other words, aims to create a connection to its vast underdeveloped regions to Europe through Southeast Asia. Although the Belt and Road Initiative is emphasized as an economy-targeted project, there is also the possibility for China's geopolitical expansion. For this reason, this paper supports the notion that the China' s Belt and Road Initiative could exacerbate bilateral rivalries and regional flashpoints rather than ameliorate them. To a greater extent, China uses its economic resources to assert its leadership to its neighbourhood. It is also a tool that it has widely employed in its policy to retain regional stability (Hilpert and Wacker, 2015: 6). Consequently, it is imminent that the Belt and Road Initiative is mainly fuelled by the China's geostrategic goals (Hilpert and Wacker, 2015: 8). This realization, however, is likely to create more disparity and precipitate rivalry between China and its neighbours. An example of such geostrategic aim is the proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The corridor is supposed to link China's Kashgar (in Xinjiang) with the Gwadar port which is found in Baluchistan province (Wolf, 2016: 12). Considering the nearness of the port to the Gulf of Persian, it could be used to boost transhipment of the energy supplies from China. Should this be the result, it is given that there will be no need to follow the Strait Malacca route of the Southeast Asia, a factor that may trigge r disparity between the two countries (Swaine, 2015:3). The Gwadar port is also strategic for the accommodation of aircraft and submarines. For this reason, the port is more suitable for military activities. For instance, the port has been used by the People's Liberation Army Navy who are involved in the Arabian Sea mission to evacuate the Chinese workers in Libya. The proposed Belt and Road Initiative could also be used as a tool that seeks to impede the Obama's administration pivot to Asia (Lfflmann, 2016: 94). The BRI is believed to have been formulated also to counter the US policies that include the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the pivot (Lfflmann, 2016: 94). These are some of the policies that were meant to have significant impacts in Asia. Hence, China's counter on them would mean immense perpetuation of differences between China and Asia. The China's counteract of the policies was mainly influenced by its omission in the US led Trans-Pacific Partnership (Lfflmann, 2016: 101). In this view, therefore, China has to use its economic resources to build infrastructures that play an implicit role in strengthening China's position in the region. However, the election of Donald Trump as the United States president and his dismissal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership places China at an ample position to enact the BRI more efficiently. The implementation of the BRI faces numerous challenges which in one hand are likely to breed rivalry among the BRI target countries (Kong, 2015: 326). The major issue coming from China and the target countries is trust. For instance, India considers the initiative as unilateral and thus requires time before buying the idea. Thus, India also cites the China-Pakistan economic corridor as a key obstacle that deters it from buying the initiate (Wolf, 2016: 7). It is therefore evident that the initiative is likely to create rivalry among the three regions (China, Pakistan, and Asia). It is also probable that the BRI is not sustainable given that majority of the BRI countries' credit is below investment grade (Ye, 2017: 46). For example, Pakistan's economy is unstable and may thus pose a threat to the China's companies. Nonetheless, Pakistan struggles to maintain its links with China. It has therefore promised to deploy a military unit in China to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corri dor project. As aforementioned, Asia, on the other hand, attempts to break the China-Pakistan connections hence the likelihood of conflict emergence between Asia and Pakistan. In fact, Ali (2015: 3) argues that China's continued activities in the region will play a role in reviving and intensifying the conflicts in Asia and Pakistan. China is already involved in economic conflicts with other countries. Additionally, the BRI does not exhibit any efforts to alleviate the situation. On the contrary, a bigger gap between China and the conflicting countries is likely to widen further (Kong, 2015: 330). Sri Lanka, for instance, has had strong cultural and historical ties with India. The countries are long-term trading partners. However, China has increased its exports to Sri Lanka, and the endeavor may contribute to the alienation of the trading ties between Sri Lanka and Asia. Again, the implementation of the BRI will increase China's exports to Sri Lanka hence the rise of rivalry between China and Asia. The same also happened when China overtook India in trading with Bangladesh. Another bilateral rivalry between Asia and China has resulted from China's ties with Nepal which was initially India's trading stronghold. China monopoly over Nepal was greatly influenced by the new developments in the Nepal's politics. Addit ionally, China outplayed India during the 2015 Nepal earthquake when India blocked the transportation of energy supplies to the region across its borders. Consequently, China gained a reputation through its swift intervention during the earthquake and supplied fuel to Nepal. For this reason, China has a smooth task of selling the BRI project to Nepal. In conclusion, China's BRI project has both challenges and benefits to the neighbouring countries. Although the project is formulated such that it appears to underpin economic factors and benefits, it is far-reaching. In other words, the expansion of the BRI will not only have economic benefits to China but is also an initiative that will increase bilateral rivalries and regional flashpoints instead of improving the situation. Hence, the conflict between China, Pakistan and Asia are far from ending. References Apergis, N. and Ozturk, I., (2015). Testing environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in Asian countries. Ecological Indicators, 52, pp.16-22. de Oliveira, J.A.P., Doll, C.N., Kurniawan, T.A., Geng, Y., Kapshe, M. and Huisingh, D., (2013). Promoting winwin situations in climate change mitigation, local environmental quality and development in Asian cities through co-benefits. Journal of Cleaner Production, 58, pp.1-6. Lelieveld, J., Evans, J.S., Fnais, M., Giannadaki, D. and Pozzer, A., (2015). 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