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，我和哥哥還有幾個朋友圍坐在餐桌旁，閑聊我們的生活和最近發生的事情。這個夜晚似乎要在老生常談中過去，直到我們中有人突然意識到……等一下，我們還沒有討論土庫曼斯坦最近發生的事件。一整晚，我們誰也沒有談論過阿塞拜疆。避開這些話題太愚蠢，所以我們隨即展開了一場熱烈的討論。

可悲的是，這樣的對話從來沒有發生過。事實上，沒有幾個活著的美國人了解土庫曼斯坦在哪里，國名怎么拼寫，或者知道它是一個真實的國家。許多美國人會錯誤地將塞拉利昂當成意大利的某個地方，或在介紹來自孟加拉國的同事時，說孟加拉是印度首都。

目前，世界上一些國家和地區正迅速發生變化，這將對亞洲、中東和歐洲，甚至對世界政治經濟格局產生深遠影響。對于許多美國人而言，這些地方可說是聞所未聞。這些未來即將到來的變化，源于古代的絲綢之路，也源于現代中國的“一帶一路”倡儀。

浪漫畫面新內涵

提到絲綢之路，大多數人會自然聯想到駱駝長隊跋涉在沙丘上的畫面，駝隊滿載著珍貴的東方香料，當然還有絲綢，前往西方，目的地或許是羅馬城。

這樣一種浪漫的思緒，模糊了歷史的復雜性。絲綢之路不僅僅是指一條路，它包括好幾條貿易之路，通向現在的伊朗地區和地中海地區。盡管諸多歷史學家還對絲綢之路的途經地或路線圖等爭論不休，有一點不可置否的歷史意義是，它不僅僅在于商品的交換，而且在于隨之而來的文化、技術和科學交流等方面的成果。這個以連接東西方貿易路線而聞名的地區，如今又有一項重大發展。

2013年9月和10月間，中國國家主席習近平訪問中亞和東南亞地區的一些重要國家，提出建設絲綢之路經濟帶和21世紀海上絲綢之路的倡議。這一經濟戰略通常被稱為“一帶一路”，旨在促進沿途各國之間的經濟和文化合作。這些計劃可謂是大手筆。為此，成立了一家新銀行，命名為亞洲基礎設施投資銀行。其主要宗旨，正如其名，是資助各國的基礎設施建設。這就意味著更多的道路，橋梁和鐵路得以建設開工。為了豐富該倡議的內涵，中國政府出資400億美元，特別建立絲路基金，專門滿足“一帶一路”建設需求。這個基金有別于銀行，它主要資助經濟增長的各項投資商業行為。這些舉措為沿途國家和地區的快速發展提供了更好的舞臺。

“帶”“路”“絲綢”指的是什么？

第一次看到關于“一帶一路”倡議時，我不明所以。我熟悉絲綢之路的歷史概念，但“絲綢帶”又指什么呢？我學習高中歷史課時，錯過什么嗎? 這個歷史術語更像一個時髦辭令，讓我費解。

經過查證和學習，我才明白，“一帶一路”中的“一帶”這個詞，指的是一個陸地的區域，也就是過去人們所熟悉的古絲綢之路。這片土地從西亞延伸到中東和歐洲，甚至涉及遙遠的大洋洲和東非；“一路”也不是指一條路，它指的是連接東南亞、大洋洲和北非航道的一系列海上航線。海上絲綢之路，旨在建立有凝聚力的經濟合作，為參與國帶來貿易便利。

“一帶一路”給各國帶來什么？

也許與中國年輕人最相關的是，這個經濟融合倡議促進了高等教育機構的合作發展。2015年5月，西安交通大學發起成立“新絲綢之路大學聯盟”，22個國家的106所大學加入進來；同年10月，甘肅敦煌成立“一帶一路”高校戰略聯盟，現有46所高校加入。這些聯盟旨在創造新的平臺，推動各個參與大學之間的文化和學術交流。湯姆·麥格雷戈在他的文章《一帶一路倡議，跨越國界的中國文化》中說，“學術界可以通過更深入的研究、贊助論壇和發表關于新絲綢之路的書面文章來發揮更大的作用，激發人們對文化問題的興趣。”

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.