NOVEMBER 2016 FORBES ASIA | 87THEODORE KAYE / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
East meets west at Khorgos Gateway in Kazakhstan as Chinese and Russian trains adjust their gauges.ing those of the Caucasus and eastern Europe, as the interior
of Eurasia is being cracked open. Distance and remoteness
are no longer impediments to overland trade. With marked
improvements in transportation infrastructure, a more open
political landscape and a couple of huge customs unions,
land transport between China and Europe is not only more
direct but two to three times faster than sea—and a fraction of
the cost of air. At key junctions along these revitalized trade
routes new logistics, and industrial, financial, and commer-
cial centers, are being built, and new economies are rising up.
The New Silk Road isn’t a trade pact or an economic union
or a treaty organization; it’s a loose conceptual platform for
countries to engage in mutually beneficial partnerships via
the building of an enhanced economic grid that covers the
whole of Europe and Asia. Rather than compete with the
various existing geopolitical structures, this network links
them together. It is an on-the-ground mechanism for better
integrating China’s Belt and Road endeavors, the EU, non-EU
eastern Europe, the Eurasian Economic Union, ASEAN, Iran,
the Caucasus countries, and parts of South Asia into a con-
tiguous and interconnected Eurasia.
But there is still much work to be done to bring this pan-Eurasian dream to life as we still see long-standing conflicts
between neighboring countries—and even between entire
geopolitical realms.
The Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict is blocking the broader
integration of the Caucasus region, inhibiting its emergence
as a true land bridge. The Russian-backed breakaway region
of Abkhazia is a brick wall in the middle of what could other-
wise be a prime north-south trade route between Russia and
the Middle East. China’s infrastructure-building and political
partnerships with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are
seen as threats by India, which has limited its participation in
the Silk Road network.
“As the Brexit exemplified, walls are being built up, in-
stead of torn down. Populists all over Europe are increasingly
successful in exploiting fears and promoting a counter-nar-
rative to connectivity. Examples include the ongoing debates
over international free trade, the refugee crisis or the role of
Islam in Europe,” explains Moritz Rudolf, an expert on Chi-
nese foreign policy at Merics.
While there are challenges ahead, the integration of Eur-
asia is one of the main story lines playing out now, and our
conception of the region will continue to change. F