The Belt and Road Initiative:A Theme Westerners Know Little About

By Sammy Buhr [US]

Sammy Buhr grew up in New York and relocated to China in 2008. “I love the Chinese people and their culture.” She has taught English at UESTC and SWUFE.

Recently I was sitting

around the dinner

table with my brother and some friends. We were talking about our lives and the latest happenings. Having been engrossed in conversation about the usual topics for some time,it seemed like the evening was just about winding down when one or the other of us realized...wait a second... we have not yet discussed the recent goings on in Turkmenistan. And come to think of it, not one of us had had anything meaningful to say about Azerbaijan the whole entire evening. Having realized how entirely dense we were being to leave out such subjects,we immediately began a lively discussion that finished off our evening nicely.

Yep, that never happened.Because the sad truth is, with the exception of the adorable wunderkind who appeared on Jimmy Kimmel in 2013, there are no Americans alive today who know where Turkmenistan is...or how to spell it... or that it’s an actual country. Many Americans are vaguely aware of their own ethnocentricity and are likely to be somewhat apologetic about it when they meet someone foreign at a dinner party and mistakenly take Sierra Leone for an Italian province or have to be corrected after introducing a colleague as coming from Bangladesh, the capital of India. But charming self deprecation is not going to save us in the coming decades.

The fact is, there are sections of the world that are poised to change rapidly with profound implications for the economic and political landscapes of Asia, the Middle East and Europe; possibly the world. And for many of us,we've never heard of these places before. The reason for these changes likely to take place in the coming years, has its roots in the Silk Road of ancient times.

那晚，我和哥哥还有几个朋友围坐在餐桌旁，闲聊我们的生活和最近发生的事情。这个夜晚似乎要在老生常谈中过去，直到我们中有人突然意识到……等一下，我们还没有讨论土库曼斯坦最近发生的事件。一整晚，我们谁也没有谈论过阿塞拜疆。避开这些话题太愚蠢，所以我们随即展开了一场热烈的讨论。

可悲的是，这样的对话从来没有发生过。事实上，没有几个活着的美国人了解土库曼斯坦在哪里，国名怎么拼写，或者知道它是一个真实的国家。许多美国人会错误地将塞拉利昂当成意大利的某个地方，或在介绍来自孟加拉国的同事时，说孟加拉是印度首都。

目前，世界上一些国家和地区正迅速发生变化，这将对亚洲、中东和欧洲，甚至对世界政治经济格局产生深远影响。对于许多美国人而言，这些地方可说是闻所未闻。这些未来即将到来的变化，源于古代的丝绸之路，也源于现代中国的“一带一路”倡仪。

浪漫画面新内涵

提到丝绸之路，大多数人会自然联想到骆驼长队跋涉在沙丘上的画面，驼队满载着珍贵的东方香料，当然还有丝绸，前往西方，目的地或许是罗马城。

这样一种浪漫的思绪，模糊了历史的复杂性。丝绸之路不仅仅是指一条路，它包括好几条贸易之路，通向现在的伊朗地区和地中海地区。尽管诸多历史学家还对丝绸之路的途经地或路线图等争论不休，有一点不可置否的历史意义是，它不仅仅在于商品的交换，而且在于随之而来的文化、技术和科学交流等方面的成果。这个以连接东西方贸易路线而闻名的地区，如今又有一项重大发展。

2013年9月和10月间，中国国家主席习近平访问中亚和东南亚地区的一些重要国家，提出建设丝绸之路经济带和21世纪海上丝绸之路的倡议。这一经济战略通常被称为“一带一路”，旨在促进沿途各国之间的经济和文化合作。这些计划可谓是大手笔。为此，成立了一家新银行，命名为亚洲基础设施投资银行。其主要宗旨，正如其名，是资助各国的基础设施建设。这就意味着更多的道路，桥梁和铁路得以建设开工。为了丰富该倡议的内涵，中国政府出资400亿美元，特别建立丝路基金，专门满足“一带一路”建设需求。这个基金有别于银行，它主要资助经济增长的各项投资商业行为。这些举措为沿途国家和地区的快速发展提供了更好的舞台。

“带”“路”“丝绸”指的是什么？

第一次看到关于“一带一路”倡议时，我不明所以。我熟悉丝绸之路的历史概念，但“丝绸带”又指什么呢？我学习高中历史课时，错过什么吗? 这个历史术语更像一个时髦辞令，让我费解。

经过查证和学习，我才明白，“一带一路”中的“一带”这个词，指的是一个陆地的区域，也就是过去人们所熟悉的古丝绸之路。这片土地从西亚延伸到中东和欧洲，甚至涉及遥远的大洋洲和东非；“一路”也不是指一条路，它指的是连接东南亚、大洋洲和北非航道的一系列海上航线。海上丝绸之路，旨在建立有凝聚力的经济合作，为参与国带来贸易便利。

“一带一路”给各国带来什么？

也许与中国年轻人最相关的是，这个经济融合倡议促进了高等教育机构的合作发展。2015年5月，西安交通大学发起成立“新丝绸之路大学联盟”，22个国家的106所大学加入进来；同年10月，甘肃敦煌成立“一带一路”高校战略联盟，现有46所高校加入。这些联盟旨在创造新的平台，推动各个参与大学之间的文化和学术交流。汤姆·麦格雷戈在他的文章《一带一路倡议，跨越国界的中国文化》中说，“学术界可以通过更深入的研究、赞助论坛和发表关于新丝绸之路的书面文章来发挥更大的作用，激发人们对文化问题的兴趣。”

The Silk Road of Ancient Times

For most people, mention of the Silk Road will conjure up images of camel trains trudging over sand dunes, carrying their precious cargo of exotic spices and of course, silk, westward, perhaps towards Rome. A romantic notion like this one glosses over some of the complexities of the history of the Silk Road. For instance,rather than being just one road,the Silk Road of ancient times consisted of a collection of routes that may have begun as trade routes between what is now Iran and the Mediterranean. While historians may debate on the exact location of certain parts of the route or the exact way the Silk Road evolved, one thing beyond debate is that the Silk Road was of major historical significance not only because goods were exchanged, but also because of the results of the exchange of culture,language, technology and science.Today there is another significant development in the region of the world once known for its trade routes connecting East and West.

In September and October 2013, President Xi Jinping, while visiting key spots in Central and Southeast Asia, announced China’s new plan for economic development, the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative. Commonly referred to as the Belt and Road Initiative,this economic strategy aims to facilitate economic and cultural cooperation among countries primarily in Eurasia. The plans for these improvements are on a truly grand scale. To facilitate the financing of the projects, a new bank was formed, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.Its primary purpose, as its name suggests, is to lend money for infrastructure projects. This means new roads, bridges and possibly railways. As a further reflection of the scope of the initiative, China has created the Silk Road Fund, a 40 billion USD fund dedicated to the needs of the Belt and Road Initiative.This fund is distinguished from the bank in that its purpose is to lend to businesses to stimulate economic growth rather than lend money for infrastructure building projects. The stage is thus generously set for some rapid changes in these regions.

Belt... Road... Silk?

Now, the first time I saw reference to the Belt and Road Initiative I was a little thrown off by the name. I was familiar with the Silk Road. But what was this Silk Belt?Had I missed something in high school history class? It’s quite possible I completely missed an important historical fact here and there. Still, I think any historical term that also sounds like such a fashionable accessory would have stuck in my mind. After doing some research into the matter, it turns out my confusion was not without reason. To be clear, the term “Belt” actually refers to a region of land, or “belt” of land that is commonly associated with the Silk Road of long ago.The initiative to build up the infrastructure, streamline trade practices and increase cultural exchange within countries belonging to this “belt” or region is what is being referenced in the “Belt” of the Belt and Road initiative. This region of land stretches from West Asia to the Middle East and Europe.In addition it involves such farflung places as Oceania and East Africa. Perhaps officials went with the term “Belt” on account of the fact that there were in reality many routes along the Silk Road, not just one. Also perhaps“Belt and Road” sounded better than “Region and Road” which is quite vague sounding after all.The “Road” in the Belt and Road Initiative is not a road at all.Instead it refers to a collection of maritime routes connecting the waterways of Southeast Asia, Oceania and North Africa.This oceangoing initiative,sometimes called the Maritime Silk Road, aims to create a cohesive economic cooperation that will bring trade benefits to participating countries.

How Will This Affect Us?

Perhaps most relevant to China’s youth, this economic coalition is resulting in a uniting of institutes of higher learning throughout the Belt and Road region. In May, 2015, The New Silk Road University Union was established by Xi’an Jiaotong University.106 universities in 22 countries have joined the union. In addition, the “The Belt and Road Universities Strategic Alliance”was instituted in Dunhuang,Gansu in October, 2015 and 46 universities have joined to date.These unions purpose to create platforms for communication,cultural and academic exchange among participating universities.As Tom McGregor notes in his article, “Belt and Road Initiative:Taking China’s culture beyond borders,” “Academia can play a larger role (in sparking renewed interest in cultural matters)by conducting more in-depth research, sponsoring forums and publishing written materials on the New Silk Road.”

The Silk Road of ancient times prompted advancements in the fields of science and technology.Ideas and philosophies were spread and cultures were forever changed. What will be the result of the economic advancement and the cultural and academic exchange brought on by the Belt and Road Initiative? We can only wait and see.