Book Review: The New Silk roads: the present and future of the world by Peter Frankopan

The New Silk roads: the present and future of the world

“All Roads used to lead to Rome, today they lead to Beijing”, notes the author. he is of the opinion that the world’s past has been shaped by what happens along the Silk Roads. Therefore, he makes a point that the rise of the Silk Roads means the center of world power slips from the West to the East.

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The book reminds us that we all live in an increasingly inter-connected world, despite this being the age of Trump and Brexit. Although disengagement and isolation may be the leading scenarios in the Western world, it is the cementing of the ties, and mutual cooperation and coordination among the Silk Road countries which is the dominant trend, and it is highly likely to continue.

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He outlines that over the past couple of decades, China’s economy has been growing at a breakneck pace. As recently as 2001, China’s Gross Domestic Product was astonishingly 39 percent; three times that of the USA. By 2016, it was 114 percent and soaring rapidly. While in 2017, it seems to have slightly cooled down. Nonetheless, amid this, Starbucks -an American corporation- announced it would open as many as 2000 shops in China by the year 2021, thereby boosting economic activities. In this way, it is expected China will bounce back to progressive growth.

In this book, he has mentioned China’s debt-trap diplomacy. He writes: according to some critics, China buys political influence and goodwill through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Through this, it increases the debt level of client states, thereby turning them into highly indebted countries. This very much helps in gaining political mileage to China.

A significant point that the author adds is that countries like in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and Central Asia, these Chinese offerings trump those of the USA these days.  As he recalls words of Cambodian Prime minister, Hun Sen, “Other countries have lots of ideas, but no money. But for China, when it comes to an idea, it also comes with the money.”

He is quite optimistic about the emergence of the Gwadar port. He believes it has the potential of becoming a major gateway, and one day it can become the “New Shanghai”. Along with this, he is quite sanguine about the emergence of Asia; however, in the same breath, he expresses some reservations. Quoting his standpoint in a line, “ A new world is emerging in Asia, and it is not a free one.” He warns ominously here, as he is largely concerned for political plurality and human rights in this world order, supposedly led by China.

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A number of countries in the region are characterized by extractive and non-inclusive political and economic institutions. He propounds the argument of the book, “why Nations fail”, adding that countries with non-inclusive and extractive institutions can grow for a while, but this growth is not sustainable. Sooner or later, the growth will be blocked at any stage. As was the case with the Soviet Union that grew tremendously from the late 1920s to the early 1960s, soon it ran out of steam, resulting in initial slowdown and then total collapse. China’s economic institutions are more inclusive compared to the Soviet Union. However, authors in “why nations fail” question the sustainability of breathtaking Chinese economic growth in the presence of its non-inclusive and extractive political institutions.

Put simply, the author of this book is all praise for China but with some reservations. He believes new silk roads are going to soon revolutionize the world order, with China calling all the shots.