On the surface, the unveiling of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in October 2014 could be seen as a welcome addition to a region in desperate need of infrastructure to support growth. But much more was at stake. The AIIB represents a significant milestone in China’s emergence as a regional leader, and Washington’s ham-fisted opposition to its creation dismayed its allies in Asia and even Europe and played into China’s hands, writes John H.S. Åberg