The New Silk Roads

Peter Frankopan's central claim is that the true center of gravity in twenty-first-century geopolitics is no longer the Atlantic world but the vast landmass stretching from China through Central Asia, Russia, Iran, and the Middle East — the historic corridor of the Silk Roads, now being actively rebuilt through massive infrastructure investment, trade agreements, and diplomatic realignment. He frames China's Belt and Road Initiative, a sprawling program of railways, ports, and pipelines linking Asia to Africa and Europe, as the clearest expression of this shift, driven by China's need for secure energy supplies, its economic transition toward services, and its ambition to shape a global order less dependent on institutions the West built after World War Two.

This matters because Frankopan argues the West, and the United States in particular, has largely misread this transition, retreating into trade barriers, unilateral sanctions, and strained alliances precisely as rival powers are building deeper cooperation and connectivity among themselves. He is careful not to claim this shift means Western decline is inevitable or that China's rise is problem-free — he acknowledges serious human rights and debt-dependency concerns tied to Chinese-led development — but he insists ignoring or resisting the shift, rather than adapting to it, is a strategic error with consequences likely to compound for decades.

Who should read it

Readers interested in contemporary geopolitics, international trade, or how historical trade networks are being reactivated in modern form will find this essential. Business and policy audiences tracking China's global influence, along with general readers of Frankopan's earlier Silk Roads history, will also find it valuable.

About the author

Peter Frankopan is a British historian and Professor of Global History at Oxford University, best known for his bestselling 2015 book The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, of which this book is a direct sequel.