Geopolitics of American and Chinese Silk Road Narratives in Central Asia

Some international actors have sought to revive and benefit from the symbolic power of the term “Silk Road” in recent years. China launched the "One Belt One Road" initiative in 2013 and presented the Silk Road Economic Belt with Central Asia as its main route. Earlier in 2011, the United States officially used the romantic term of the Silk Road to define its foreign policy towards Central Asia. However, the American narrative of the Silk Road distinguishes from its Chinese narrative. This study is aimed to compare geopolitical discourses on which the American and Chinese narratives of the New Silk Road in Central Asia rely. This literature addresses the following question: “which geopolitical discourse shapes the American and Chinese narratives of the New Silk Road?” In spite of US resorting to the Silk Road metaphor, its New Silk Road map is based on redefining the geopolitics of domination in Central Asia, while China's Silk Road Economic Belt is based on a critical geopolitical idea, and recognizes Central Asian Republics as influential geopolitical actors.