Geopolitical Dimension of the Old and the Modern Silk Road

Year 2023, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 37 - 54, 30.05.2023

Sanja Stošić

https://doi.org/10.58648/inciss.1261184

Abstract

The old Silk Road, that connected the West and East, was a center of cultural and trade interaction in the Asian continent from China to the Mediterranean Sea, but in 2013 it was referred by the Chinese president Xi Jinping as “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR), which announced that China would fund a New Silk Road Economic Belt across Eurasia to connect China with Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. Different from the old Silk Road, current Silk Road includes the flow of financial services, information, technology as well as the Chinese initiative to strengthen connectivity in Central Asia and beyond. Comparing the modern Silk Road with the old Silk Road, in this paper we focus on China’s regional and international expansion, and the relevance of new Silk Road as one of the current largest programmes of economic diplomacy. Thereby, by using the qualitative descriptive methodology and interdisciplinary approach, this paper demonstrates that the new Silk Road comprises a new global order; therefore, it must be seen as the link between the past, present, and future. That is why its concept must be analyzed with reference to the old Silk Road, but also in wider geopolitical context.

Keywords

Silk Road, BRI, geopolitics, Southeast Asia, globalization

Supporting Institution

Institute for Political Studies

Eski ve Modern İpek Yolunun Jeopolitik Boyutu

Abstract

Batıyla doğuyu birbirine bağlayan eski İpek Yolu, Çin’den Akdeniz’e Asya kıtasındaki kültürel ve ticari etkilemişimin merkezi olmasının yanı sıra Çin Devlet Başkanı Xi Jinping tarafından “Tek Kuşak, Tek Yol (OBOR)” sloganıyla anılmıştır. Çin bu sloganla birlikte Avrupa, Orta Doğu ve Güney Asya’yla ilişkiler kurmak amacıyla Avrasya boyunca uzanan Yeni İpek Yolu Ekonomik Kuşağı’nı finanse edeceğini duyurmuştur. Eski İpek Yolundan farklı olarak mevcut İpek Yolu; Çin’in Orta Asya ve ötesindeki bağlantıları güçlendirmeye yönelik girişimlerinin yanı sıra finansal hizmetler, bilişim ve teknoloji akışını kapsamaktadır. Modern İpek Yolu’yla eski İpek Yolu’nu karşılaştıran bu çalışmada Çin’in bölgesel ve uluslararası boyutlarda genişlemesiyle birlikte güncel en büyük ekonomik diplomasi programlarından biri olarak yeni İpek Yolu’nun önemini ele almaktayız. Nitel betimsel metodoloji ve interdisipliner yaklaşımın kullanıldığı bu çalışma; yeni İpek Yolu’nun yeni bir küresel düzen oluşturduğunu ve bu nedenle geçmiş, bugün ve gelecek arasında bir bağlantı olarak görülmesi gerektiğini gözler önüne sermektedir. Dolayısıyla bu konu, “Çin Küreselleşmesi (Chiglobalization)” kapsamında ve daha geniş bir jeopolitik bağlamda eski İpek Yolu’na atıfta bulunarak analiz edilmelidir.

Keywords

İpek Yolu, Kuşak-Yol Projesi, jeopolitik, Güneydoğu Asya, küreselleşme

References

• Abulafia, D. (2018), ‘What History Teaches us about China’s “New Silk Road”’, Longitudes, Retrieved from www.longitudes.ups.com (03-03-2020)
• Armando, E. (2021) Understanding the New Silk Roads of Energy. https://geopolitique.eu/en/articles/understanding-the-new-silk-roads-of-energy/ (08-09-2021)
• Baumer, C. (2013), The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Silk Roads, B. Tauris & Company, London.
• Campos, I. D. (2015). One Belt & One Road: Between Cooperation and Geopolitics in the Silk Road. Contacto Global.Vol. 6, 18-25.
• Caporaso, J. A., & Levine, D. P. (2009). Theories of political economy.
• Conathan, M., & S. (2015). 'Developing a Blue Economy in China and the United States,' Center for American Progress,
• Darvill, T. (2008), Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Duquennoy, A., Zielonka, R. (2015). Bridging Asia and Europe through Maritime Connectivity. European Institute for Asian Studies, Brussels, Retrieved from http://www.eias.org/wp- content/uploads/2016/02/Bridging_Asia_Europe_2015.pdf (02.05.2020)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica (n.d./c), The Malay kingdom of Srivijaya-Palembang Retrieved from: www.britannica.com (19-08-2020)
• Frankopan, P. (2015), The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, Bloomsbury Publishing, London
• Frankopan, P. (2018), The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World,, Bloomsbury Publishing, London
• Ghiasy, R., Su, F., Saalman, L., Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, & Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, (2018). The 21st century maritime Silk Road: Security implications and ways forward for the European Union.
• Hays, J. (ed.) (2014), ‘Ancient Civilizations in Southeast Asia: Funan, Srivijaya and The Mon’, Facts and Details Retrieved from: www.factsanddetails.com (04-09-2019).
• Helsinki Times (2023), https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/china-news/22817-china-s-bri-circle-of-friends- expanding.html (16-01-2023).
• Iftikhar, M. & Abbasi, F. A Comparative View of the Ancient and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), March 3, 2016, Retrieved from http://cimsec.org/ancient-land-and- the-maritime-silk-road/22660 (07-09-2020).
• Jiao Wu – Yunbi, Zhang: Xi in call for building of new ‘maritime silk road. China Daily USA, 2013. 10. 04. Retrieved from http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-10/04/content?_17008940.htm (07-09-2020).
• Kamen, H. (2003), Empire: How Spain became a World Power 1492–1763, HarperCollins, New York.
• Klemensits. P. (April 01, 2018). Geopolitical Consequences of the 21st Century New Maritime Silk Road for Southeast Asian Countries. Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: an International Journal, 4, 1, 107-138.
• Koh, T. (2015), ‘21st century Maritime Silk Road’, The Straits Times, 04-08-2015, Retrieved from www.straitstimes.com (20-08-2020).
• Malekandrathil, P. (2010), Maritime India: Trade, religion and polity in the Indian Ocean, Primus Books, Haryana.
• Miksic, J.N. (2013), Singapore and the Silk Roads of the Sea 1300–1800, NUS Press, Singapore
• Nobis A. (November 01, 2017). The New Silk Road, Old Concepts of Globalization, and New Questions. Open Cultural Studies, 1, 1, 203-213.
• Paludan, A. (1998), Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors, Thames & Hudson, London
• Reuters (2021) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinese-defense-firm-has-taken-over-lifting- venezuelan-oil-debt-offset-sources-2022-08-26/
• Sabattini, M., & Santangelo, P. (2011).Storia della Cina. Roma: GLF editori Laterza.
• Scott, R., China’s Maritime Silk Road project advances. In: Hellenic Shipping News, 12 July, 2016. Retrieved from http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/chinas-maritime-silk-road-project-advances (07.09.2019)
• Sevilla Jr, H. A. (2017). China’s New Silk Route Initiative: Political and Economic Implications for the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 11, 1, 83-106
• Stošić, S. (2018). The Ancient Maritime Silk Road: A Shift to Globalization. The Journal of International Civilization Studies, 3, 1, 304-320. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/inciss/issue/57390/813293 (03-05- 2020).
• Sun, D., & Zoubir, Y. H. (2014). Building a new Silk Road: China and the Middle East in the 21st Century. Beijing Shi: World Affairs Press.
• Venancio, M. (2018), The “Belt and Road Initiative” and its Globala Geopolitical Implications. https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/Mireia-Venancio/121041393 (03-03-2022).
• Westad, O.A. (2012), Restless Empire: China and the World since 1750, Basic Books, New York.
• Winter, T. (2016). One Belt, One Road, One Heritage: Cultural Diplomacy and the Silk Road: The Cultural Aspects of the Belt and Road could Forever Reshape Regional Politics and Security. The Diplomat, March 29.
• Retrieved from http://thediplomat.com/2016/03/one-belt-one-road-one-heritage-cultural-diplomacy-and- the-silk-road (09.09.2019).
• Yale, W. (2015). China’s Maritime Silk Road Gamble. The Diplomat, April 22. Retrieved from http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/chinas-maritime-silk-road-gamble/ (09.09.2022).