The Land-based Belt of the New Silk Road and the Geopolitics of the Central Asia

پژوهش نامه ایرانی سیاست بین الملل

Article 5, Volume 10, Issue 1 - Serial Number 19, December 2021, Pages 119-142   

Document Type: Original Article

DOI: 10.22067/irlip.2021.69448.1050

Author

ARASH REISINEZHAD^*

University of Tehran

Abstract

With the rise of China and its stable economic growth in the new millennium, the New Silk Road has caught eyes and thoughts as the most significant international initiative.  Indeed, One Belt One Road is the most ambitious megaproject, expressing China's will and capacity for external power projection. In the contemporary world, there are rare projects with a huge ramification for the transformation of international security and power arrangement within Iran's periphery, particularly Central Asia.  Within this context, the New Silk Road is an exceptional grand-strategy, affecting geopolitics of Central Asia, in particular, and Greater Eurasia, in general.  Central Asia has been geographically and historically the center of gravity of the Silk Road, controlling roads from China to Iran and the Middle East, as well as South Asia and Southern Russia. From this point of view, the present article shows the significance of Central Asia, Xinxiang and Afghanistan with a huge ramification in shaping trends of the new Silk Road.

Keywords

Silk Road; Geopolitics; Geoeconomics; Central Asia; Eurasia

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