One Belt, One Road offers economic opportunities for those in its path - but not without geopolitical implications By Dr. Mona S. AlMunajjed Fri 11 May 2018 03:31 PM Globalisation is hardly a novel idea; 2,000 years ago merchants traded goods along a network of routes that grew organically across Asia and into Europe. The network, dating back to the Han and Tang Chinese empire dynasties, extended some 7,000km from Chang’an (today’s Xian) in China, via Central Asia, into the Middle East and into Europe and Africa. In the 19th century, German geographer Ferdinand Von Richthofen coined the name Silk Road or Silk Routes to describe the passage of Chinese, Turkish, Indian, Persian and Arab merchants and their goods – including silks – from China and incense, frankincense and copper from the Arabian peninsula and the Levant. Alongside commerce, these routes also facilitated cultural exchange, including knowledge of the arts and literature, languages, sciences, technology and crafts,