Asia Gas Pipeline
Pipeline
In this image, a Chinese employee of Asia Gas Pipeline LLP (AGP) walks across a frozen landscape to inspect a portion of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline. AGP, a joint venture between the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Kazakhstan's state-owned oil and gas company, Kaz Munai Gas, is responsible for the 1,300 km-long Kazakhstan portion of the Turkmen pipeline.
Pannier, Bruce. "China’s Limits In Central Asia." Qishloq Ovozi. Radio Free Europe, 30 Nov. 2014. Web. 7 May 2015. <http://www.rferl.org/content/china-central-asia-/26717574.html>.
Radio Free Europe
2014
Image
China-Kazakhstan Border
Border Condition
This satellite image from Nasa's Earth Observatory displays the stunning contrast in landscape along the border between China and Kazakhstan.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Available at: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84199&src=eoa-iotd
2013
Satellite Imagery
Major Pipelines in Central Asia that lead to China
This map documents the major oil and gas pipelines in Central Asia that supply China with her unceasing demand for energy resources.
Xiaoxuan Lu and Justin Stern
January 2015
Mapping the Turkmenistan-China Gas Pipeline
Fieldwork Map
This map displays the route of the Turkmenistan-China Gas Pipeline and identifies some of the major nodes (capital cities and managerial hubs) along the length of the pipeline. The chart in the bottom left-hand corner shows the dominant environmental landscapes through which the pipeline passes: desert, mountain, piedmont and steppe.
Xiaoxuan Lu and Justin Stern
February 2015
Regional Map
PIPELINES
One Direction different from road or rail. Sabotage.
Silk Road Caravan using Bactrian camels
Silk Road
The caravan served as the principle method for transporting goods across the Silk Road. This image from "The Silk Road Atlas" depicts what the journey may have looked like.
Eduljee, K.E. "Zoroastrian Heritage." Aryan Trade and Zoroastrianism. Silk Roads. Zoroastrian Heritage, n.d. Web. 07 May 2015. <http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/aryans/trade.htm>.
Image
Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road
Twenty-First Century Silk Road
The "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" is a new initiative by the Chinese Government to bolster trade across Asia, Europe and Africa. Whereas the "Maritime Silk Road" passes from Southern China through Western Asia, the Middle East and East Africa, the "Silk Road Economic Belt" transits through Northwestern China and Central Asia to reach Turkey and, ultimately, Continental Europe.
Although the vast "Silk Road Economic Belt" is anchored in Central Asia, the project is frequently referred to as a trade and tourism-building partnership between China and Continental Europe.
Justin Stern
Zhendong, Pu, Zhao Yanrong, and Zheng Yangpeng. "State Councilor Urges Cooperation in Silk Road Projects." China Daily [Beijing] 11 Apr. 2014: n. pag. China Daily. 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 7 May 2015.
China Daily
2014
Newspaper Article and Image
Unesco's Silk Road
Cultural Map
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has gone to great lengths to extoll the cultural value of the Silk Road. This "Cultural Heritage of the Silk Road on the Map" casts the "Silk Road" as having influence over a massive geographic territory inclusive of Africa, Asia, and Europe.
The map is a collaborative platform, developed with the support of the governments of Kazakhstan, Germany, Oman and Azerbaijan, and funding provided by the Chinese Tang West Market Cultural Industry Investment Group -- just one marker of the diverse array of private and public entities engaged in the production of cultural knowledge related to the Silk Road.
UNESCO
"The Cultural Heritage of the Silk Road On the Map." Silk Road. UNESCO, n.d. Web. 5 May 2015. <https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/interactive-map-of-the-silk-road>.
2015
Interactive Map
United States New Silk Road Initiative
From Silk Road to Gas Road
First envisioned in 2011 by the United States Department of State, the New Silk Road Initiative supports regional integration with a primary focus on building links between Afghanistan and neighboring countries.
In remarks to the Jamestown Foundation, Lynne M. Tracy, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Department of State's Bureau of South Asian and Central Asian Affairs, highlight the growth of transnational trade from and through Afghanistan: "So what are the key components of our New Silk Road vision? When we speak of a New Silk Road, we mean on the one hand physical connectivity – transport, communications, and energy infrastructure that links countries of the region together and links them with South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. On the other hand and equally important, we mean the practices, regulations, legislative bases, and international agreements in the areas of trade and transit that allow goods and services to flow efficiently from country to country across this infrastructure. The United States has invested significant resources and political capital in both of these components of the New Silk Road."
United States Department of State
Tracy, Lynne M. "The United States and the New Silk Road." Proc. of U.S. Relations with Central Asia after 2014 and the New Silk Road: Regional Integration, Trade and Economic Prospects, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC. United States Department of State, 25 Oct. 2013. Web. 5 May 2015.
United States Department of State
2013
Conference Statement and Image
USA Silk Road
From Silk Road to Gas Road
Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Government established the "Silk Road Fund" to "...expand strategic trust through more opening up and connectivity." The fund entails a US$40 billion commitment on the part of China to improve connectivity between China and Central Asia.
The Fund will support both "hard" and "soft" infrastructure. As President Xi announced at the Partner Dialogue: "Connectivity doesn’t just mean building bridges and roads. These are two dimensional links, single line connections. We must also have three dimensional connections, like infrastructure, institutional improvements, and people to people exchanges. We must advance Connectivity side by side, in five different areas: They are the coordination of policies, the connection of facilities unblocking trade, the free flow of capital, and people-to-people communication."
Justin Stern
Bin, Han. "China Pledges 40 Bln US Dollars for Silk Road Fund." CCTV. N.p., 11 Aug. 2014. Web. 5 May 2015.
CCTV
August 2014
Article and Photograph