A Tale of Two Titans: The Marshall Plan and China’s Belt and Road Initiative The U.S. Marshall Plan (1948–1952) and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, 2013–present) are landmark geoeconomic strategies, each reshaping global influence through economic aid. The Marshall Plan, with ~$13 billion in grants, rebuilt Europe and Japan as capitalist bulwarks against Soviet expansion, fostering rapid recovery and enduring alliances. BRI, with over $1 trillion in loans, targets the Global South, building infrastructure to secure resources and markets for China’s industrial machine. Philosophically, the Marshall Plan was ideologically rigid, while BRI is pragmatic, prioritizing connectivity over alignment. Implementation-wise, the Marshall Plan’s grants were easier to execute than BRI’s debt-heavy, complex model. Outcomes show the Marshall Plan’s transformative success versus BRI’s mixed results. Geopolitically, both cemented their sponsors’ dominance, but BRI faces multipolar resistance. ...