New Silk Road: Pro Culturae

The article introduces a cultural research of the mega-project “One Belt — One Road”. It shows that the People’s Republic of China positions its global initiative to resurrect the Great Silk Road as an infrastructure project. Its realization is accompanied exclusively by political and economic discourse. According to the author, it is a great omission since the success or failure of the grandiose plans of the Celestial Empire depends not as much on the administrative and financial resources involved as on the sincere interest and involvement of people, on the interaction in terms of a much wider cultural background. The study of Russian information materials devoted to this project shows that the humanitarian component of the New Silk Road still remains at the level of declarations and formal thematic procedures. The project lacks publicity. The great history of the Silk Road is not updated. The cultural perspective of its revival is out of the discussion. No one dreams of enriching the cultural synthesis. Any anticipation of discoveries and prospects is not heard of. The project as a whole lies on the periphery of media attention and evaluation. But what would happen if globalization continues its development not from the Protestant ethics standpoint but the Confucian or Buddhist one? It might offer a good alternative that would change everything. This can change many things if accompanied by goodwill but we do not see discussions pertaining to the cultural transformations the project may lead to. One can observe rather the opposite. In the eighth year of the implementation of the initiative “One Belt — One Road”, a project hitting the scope of transformations and huge investments, the enthusiasm of its participants (politicians, administrators, and businessmen) is often tinged with doubts caused by discrepancies in understanding events and agreements. Ontological reasons for such a state of affairs constitute the cultural constellation (dependence upon a point of view and the divergence of the ontical “assembly” of the same phenomena). Through viewing specific examples, the author concludes that the misunderstanding of ideological landmarks, the incomprehensibility of values, the diversity of motivation and aspirations of participants make the confidential and interested cooperation problematic. Without actualization of discourse, without involving people in co-creation, without a broad and deep inclusion of the informally organized humanitarian sphere, where the problems of “human, too human” are solved, the project is unlikely to meet expectations in terms of its historical mission.

1. Borisov M.G. Energy Component of the “One Belt — One Road” Initiative, Vostochnaya analitika [Eastern Analytics], 2019, no. 2, pp. 13—23 (in Russ.).

2. Martynenko S.E., Parkhitko N.P. Russian-Chinese Cooperation in Central Asia in the Context of Belt and Road Initiative: Historical Retrospective and Economic Prospects, RUDN Journal of Russian History, 2019, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 845—864.

3. Sharyapova Yu.M. Trade and Transport Corridors of the “One belt One Road” Project, Vostochnaya analitika [Eastern Analytics], 2019, no. 4, pp. 111—128 (in Russ.).

4. Pak E.V. Rethinking Chinese Involvement in Infrastructure Building in Russia and Kazakhstan under the Belt and Road Initiative, Rossiiskii vneshneekonomicheskii vestnik [Russian Foreign Economic Journal], 2021, no. 1, pp. 93—105 (in Russ.).

5. Zhou Jiashu. Analysis of the “One Belt, One Road” Project Based on the PPP Model, Innovatsii i investitsii [Innovation & Investment], 2021, no. 2, pp. 46—50 (in Russ.).

6. Penkovtsev R.V., Yuan Ya. The Attitude and Reaction of the US Official Circles to the Chinese Initiative “One Belt, One Road”, Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya i obshchestvo [International Relations and Society], 2020, no. 2, pp. 32—38 (in Russ.).

7. Ortega y Gasset J. Izbrannye trudy [Selected Works]. Moscow, Ves’ Mir Publ., 1997, 704 p.

8. Alekseev-Apraksin A.M. Images of the Japanese Culture in Modern Russia, Filosofskii polilog: zhurnal Mezhdunarodnogo tsentra izucheniya russkoi kul’tury [Philosophical Polylogue: Journal of the International Center for the Study of Russian Culture], 2017, no. 1, pp. 12—20. DOI: 10.31119/phlog.2017.1.2 (in Russ.).

9. Kuzmin V. The Great Silk Road in the Caucasus, Chelovek bez granits: sait [Man without Borders: website]. Available at: https://www.bez-granic.ru/arhiv/main/caucases. html (accessed 19.11.2021) (in Russ.).

10. Alekseev-Apraksin A.M. East-West: The Experience of Understanding Intercultural Contacts, Voprosy kul’turologii [Issues of Cultural Studies], 2010, no. 12, pp. 10—14 (in Russ.).

11. Alekseev-Apraksin A.M. Vostok v kul’ture Peterburga [The East in the Culture of St. Petersburg], dr. cult. diss.: 24.00.01. St. Petersburg, 2011, 362 p.

12. Chen S., Chzhan T. Ice Silk Road, Zhurnal Kitai [China Pictorial], 2018, no. 6 (152), pp. 53—55 (in Russ.).

13. Mikhailichenko K.M. The Project “Ice Silk Road” within the Framework of the Initiative “One Belt and One Road” as the Realization of the Interests of Russia and China in the Arctic Region, Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Politologiya [RUDN Journal of Political Science], 2019, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 333—345. DOI: 10.22363/2313-1438-2019-21-2-333-345 (in Russ.).

14. Solomatina A.R. Digital Silk Road as a Component of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, Postsovetskie issledovaniya [Post-Soviet Studies], 2021, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 296—307 (in Russ.).

15. Dutkevich P. Eurasian Economic Union and “One Belt, One Road”: Assets and Liabilities, Valdai: mezhdunarodnyi diskussionnyi klub [Valdai: International Discussion Club], 08.10.2018. Available at: https://ru.valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/eaes-i-odin-poyas-put/ (accessed 21.11.2021) (in Russ.).

16. Garusova L.N. India and The United States: The Formation of the Indo-Pacific Geopolitical Area, Trudy instituta istorii, arkheologii i etnografii DVO RAN [Proceedings of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology FEB RAS], 2018, vol. 18, pp. 65—84 (in Russ.).

17. Weber M. Protestantskaya etika i dukh kapitalizma [The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]. Moscow, AST Publ., 2020, 316 p.

18. Geng Biao. Confucianism in Modern China, Studia Culturae, 2019, no. 42, pp. 71—76 (in Russ.).

19. Spengler O. Zakat Evropy: ocherki morfologii mirovoi istorii. V 2-kh tomakh. T. 1. Obraz i deistvitel’nost’ [The Decline of the West. In 2 volumes. Volume 1. Form and Actuality]. Minsk, 2009, 656 p.