The New Silk Road

From the Sunday Times and internationally bestselling author of The Silk Roads: everything you need to know about the present and future of the world'Masterly mapping out of a new world order' Evening Standard'Frankopan is a brilliant guide to terra incognita' The Times The New Silk Roads - Peter Frankopan's follow-up to the 'Book of the Decade', The Silk Roads - takes a fresh look at the network of relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the Silk Roads today.The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and Trump, the themes of isolation and fragmentation permeating the western world stand in sharp contrast to events along the Silk Roads, where ties have been strengthened and mutual cooperation established.Following the Silk Roads eastwards from Europe through to China, by way of Russia and the Middle East, The New Silk Roads provides a timely reminder that we live in a world that is profoundly interconnected. In this prescient contemporary history, Peter Frankopan assesses the global reverberations of these continual shifts in the centre of power - all too often absent from headlines in the west. This important - and ultimately hopeful - book asks us to reread who we are and where we are in the world, illuminating the themes on which all our lives and livelihoods depend.The Silk Roads, a major reassessment of world history, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

According to tradition, the First Crusade began at the instigation of Pope Urban II and culminated in July 1099, when thousands of western European knights liberated Jerusalem from the rising menace of Islam. But what if the First Crusade's real catalyst lay far to the east of Rome? In this groundbreaking book, countering nearly a millennium of scholarship, Peter Frankopan reveals the untold history of the First Crusade. Nearly all historians of the First Crusade focus on the papacy and its willing warriors in the West, along with innumerable popular tales of bravery, tragedy, and resilience. In sharp contrast, Frankopan examines events from the East, in particular from Constantinople, seat of the Christian Byzantine Empire. The result is revelatory. The true instigator of the First Crusade, we see, was the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who in 1095, with his realm under siege from the Turks and on the point of collapse, begged the pope for military support. Basing his account on long-ignored eastern sources, Frankopan also gives a provocative and highly original explanation of the world-changing events that followed the First Crusade. The Vatican's victory cemented papal power, while Constantinople, the heart of the still-vital Byzantine Empire, never recovered. As a result, both Alexios and Byzantium were consigned to the margins of history. From Frankopan's revolutionary work, we gain a more faithful understanding of the way the taking of Jerusalem set the stage for western Europe's dominance up to the present day and shaped the modern world.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Far more than a history of the Silk Roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next. "A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world.” —The Wall Street Journal From the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast region stretching eastward from the Balkans across the steppe and South Asia has been thrust into the global spotlight in recent years. Frankopan teaches us that to understand what is at stake for the cities and nations built on these intricate trade routes, we must first understand their astounding pasts. Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. From the rise and fall of empires to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century—this book shows how the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East. Also available: The New Silk Roads, a timely exploration of the dramatic and profound changes our world is undergoing right now—as seen from the perspective of the rising powers of the East.

Much is being written about China’s new 'One Belt, One Road' initiative, but much of the writing focuses on China itself, on the destinations of the road – Europe and the Middle East – or on the countries through which the road passes, such as Central Asia. This book takes a different approach, assessing the views of East Asian and other countries on the Belt and Road Initiative, both from a transnational and multidisciplinary perspective. The book considers international visions and limitations of the New Silk Road as a new paradigm, explores economic and trade aspects, including infrastructure networks, financial mechanisms, and the likely impact for other countries and regions, and analyses the likely implications for regional and trans-regional cooperation and competition. Western and Asian regional perspectives on the New Silk Road, including from India, Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Japan are considered throughout the book.

From the bestselling author of The Silk Roads comes an updated, timely, and visionary book about the dramatic and profound changes our world is undergoing right now—as seen from the perspective of the rising powers of the East. "All roads used to lead to Rome. Today they lead to Beijing." So argues Peter Frankopan in this revelatory new book. In the age of Brexit and Trump, the West is buffeted by the tides of isolationism and fragmentation. Yet to the East, this is a moment of optimism as a new network of relationships takes shape along the ancient trade routes. In The New Silk Roads, Peter Frankopan takes us on an eye-opening journey through the region, from China's breathtaking infrastructure investments to the flood of trade deals among Central Asian republics to the growing rapprochement between Turkey and Russia. This important book asks us to put aside our preconceptions and see the world from a new—and ultimately hopeful—perspective.

This book studies the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), also called "New Silk Road", and focuses on its regional and local effects. Written by experts from various fields, it presents a range of case studies on the geopolitical, socio-economic, ecological and cultural implications of the BRI for European regions and their stakeholders. The book is divided into four parts, the first of which discusses the history of and China’s motivations for the BRI. The second part explores the global phenomenon from a number of regional standpoints. In turn, the third part presents studies on the political, socio-economic, cultural and ecological implications of the New Silk Road project. The final part highlights the tourism prospects in connection with the Silk Road project, as tourism has established itself as an important economic sector in many regions along the historic Silk Road. This book will appeal to scholars of economics, international relations and tourism, decision-makers, managers, chambers of commerce and entrepreneurs with special interests in establishing collaboration with the Chinese market.

The rise of the Arab world and China are part of the same story, once trading partners via the Silk Road. This is a fully revised and updated account of how China is spurring growth in the Arab world, taking into account new developments that have taken place since the first edition.

This collaborative volume​ discusses the One Belt One Road, or the New Silk Road, initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping from the perspectives of the Belt and Road countries. This initiative has been viewed as a re-globalization drive by China in the backdrop of financial crisis of the West and the latter’s increasingly protectionist tendencies of late. Rather than ‘rebalancing’ towards a certain region, this is supposed to be China’s ‘global rebalancing’ aimed at inclusiveness and a win-win partnership. The initiative has raised hopes as well as suspicions about China's goals and intentions; that is, whether this is in sync with China’s foreign policy goals, such as multipolarity, no hegemonic aspirations, and common security, or if this is an antidote to the U.S. foreign policy goals in the region, and China’s ambition to realizing its long-term vision for Asian regional and global order. In this volume, a galaxy of eminent academics from India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Germany and Southeast Asia have critically analysed every aspect of this mammoth project, including the six major economic corridors identified by China for policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, monetary circulation, and people to people exchanges. The authors have interpreted China’s peripheral, regional as well as global diplomacy both over land and sea. This topical volume is of interest to scholars and students of Asian studies, China studies, Asian history, development studies, international relations and international trade.