Raffaello Pantucci is an internationally acclaimed foreign and security policy expert. He is a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore and a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. He has worked at influential strategic studies think tanks in London, Washington, and Shanghai, providing advice to governments, international organizations, and companies alike. He is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, New York Times, and Foreign Policy.

Alexandros Petersen was an academic, writer, and geopolitical energy expert. He published three books and over 120 articles, reports, and chapters in books, and made more than 50 media appearances internationally. Petersen addressed the implications of the West withdrawing its engagement from the Caucasus and Central Asia, the expansion of Chinese influence, and Russia's strategic interests. He taught at the American Universities of Afghanistan and Central Asia, having lived and travelled extensively across Eurasia. He was killed in a Kabul restaurant bombing and shooting attack.

• Introduction


• 1: Beyond the Heavenly Mountains


• 2: Developing the New Frontier


• 3: Cake, Heaven Sent


• 4: Silk Road or Synthetic Road?


• 5: Confucius on the Oxus


• 6: Spreading the 'Shanghai Spirit'


• 7: The New Great Wall


• 8: Inheriting Afghanistan?


• 9: Tying Up the World: The Silk Road Economic Belt


• Conclusion