Eurasia in the Making - Revival of the Silk Road

The trade routes connecting Europe and East Asia have fascinated scholars, traders, and adventurers throughout the centuries. Although its modern incarnation may lack the romantic aura of the fabled Silk Road, the recent and rapid growth of private trade and commodity exchange has contributed significantly to a revival of Silk Road trade. This takes the form of long-distance petty trade across the newly established borders of states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, as well as into other neighboring countries, including Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China, but also India, Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia. A far-flung network of trading connections has been established, and at the time of the fieldwork, thousands of petty traders were carrying their goods with them in trucks, buses, and planes, traveling once more along the routes of the old Silk Road.