A Silk Road View Of The World

Seeing the world — its history, its future — from another angle. From the East, and the old Silk Road

Long before Europe was ascendant, before the Americas were even discovered, the Silk Road was the center of the world. From China through Central Asia, Persia and on, this is where the action was. The world’s center of gravity. My guest today, Oxford scholar Peter Frankopan, says the action is moving there again. China is building a new Silk Road. Investing billions. Europe looks in retreat. This hour On Point, the Silk Road view of the world, again.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Michael Schuman, Beijing based journalist and author. Author of "Confucius and the World He Created" and "The Miracle." (@MichaelSchuman)

Peter Frankopan, historian at Oxford University, where is a senior research fellow at Worcester College and director of the Center for Byzantine Research. Author of the new book, "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World." Also author of "The First Crusade." (@peterfrankopan)

Bloomberg Businessweek: China’s New Silk Road Dream — "For centuries the Silk Road, stretching across deserts, steppes, and mountains, linked the imperial dynasties of China with Europe. Chinese rulers used the thoroughfares to expand their power and influence deep into Asia. Today a newly assertive Chinese empire—this time, a communist one—is undertaking a gargantuan project to re-create those ancient trade routes and the political and economic clout that came with them."

Financial Times: China’s Great Game: Road to a new empire — "After two decades of rapid growth, Beijing is again looking beyond its borders for investment opportunities and trade, and to do that it is reaching back to its former imperial greatness for the familiar 'Silk Road' metaphor. Creating a modern version of the ancient trade route has emerged as China’s signature foreign policy initiative under President Xi Jinping."

Christian Science Monitor: Why is China trying to revive ancient Silk Road? -- "While most analysts agree that the initiative will expand economic activities for nearby countries spread along the traditional Silk Road, some are unsure about the feasibility of the plan, pointing to the political unrest and insurgency in areas along the route of the Belt and Road, including China’s autonomous Xinjiang Uighur region (XUAR) – the emerging core zone of the Silk Road Economic Belt."