Neither Greater Asia nor Greater Europe: America’s «Chaos» versus a Silk World Order
Tectonic geopolitical shifts are taking place in Eurasia. The Venetian merchant Marco Polo and the Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta, both great travelers of their days, would be thoroughly impressed with the trade networks that are developing. The Eurasia of today is developing into a vast network of superhighways, railroad connections, mammoth ports, and sophisticated airports.
Interconnectedness is the name of the game and Beijing has been leading the way forward. Despite China’s massive project to bring the economies of Eurasia together, the Chinese still faces resentment by those that want to tarnish the image and leadership role of the People’s Republic. Here is just the latest example: although it is annually reported around Ramadan that there are restrictions on China’s Muslims, this year there has been a large international media barrage of reports claiming that China has banned fasting in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This type of media campaign evokes memories about the 3.14 protests that were orchestrated in the Tibet Autonomous Region and internationally to disrupt the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
