A new podcast of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden (BRIX) sails on a voyage through the Maritime Silk Road, with Professor Richard Griffiths, Director of the New Silk Roads Project at the International Institute of Asian Studies at Leiden University, the Netherlands.
In this interview with Hussein Askary, Professor Griffiths explains eloquently the genesis of the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century and its historical parallels, such as the voyages of Zheng He in the 15th century, and potential development in the future. He also compares the difference in time and cost between land-based rail freight and shipping.
An important aspect of the discussion is the use of the transport routes, both on land and sea as “development corridors”.
Finally, Professor Griffiths explained why both the ancient and current are and should be vehicles of peaceful cultural dialog.