Silk Road Economic Belt Project in the complex space of the Central Asia Region

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the perspectives of the Chinese initiative of the Silk Road economic belt from the prospective of the Central Asian states' national interests. The author claims that the common understanding of Central Asia as a united region is limited: there are many conflicts and problems between states which haven't yet been resolved. The problems of borders and ethnical enclaves remain to be potentially dangerous as well as recurrent problems of regionalism and tribalism. The essential water resources are distributed in a highly disproportionate way. During a long period of time Central Asia has been taking the position of an intercontinental corridor, linking Asia and Europe, and that is why external actors showed no interest in building a Central Asian integration project. Besides, political elites of Central Asia also were not interested in appearance of supranational institutes which will inevitably create a highly competitive political order. Nonetheless, the very idea of the Silk Road economic belt, in political terms, was approved by all the Central Asian states. This paradox can be partly explained referring to the absence of political limitations, imposed on states by the project. However, it doesn't mean that China experiences altruism. The author stresses that the Silk Road economic belt has never been a pure integration project. The core element of the concept is not the improvement of national industrial potential of the countries the Road crosses but the idea of the intensive development of western regions of China.