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Summary

This chapter introduces the book’s central focus and argument and discusses the themes in relationship to which it is structured. Recent work on connectivity in Eurasia has focused upon the role played by international projects of development, notably China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Building on ethnographic work with informal traders active across Afghanistan, the book emphasises the importance of informal networks of trade and commerce to Eurasian connectivity. The longdistance trading networks it describes and analysed are historically layered, structured in diverse ways, and comprised of politically astute actors able to navigate the complex geopolitical worlds across which they work. Trust is important to the activities of such networks, but so too is the ability to withstand moments of mistrust.

Small-scale traders play a crucial role in forging Asian connectivity, forming networks and informal institutions separate from those driven by nation-states, such as China's Belt and Road Initiative. This ambitious study provides a unique insight into the lives of the mobile traders from Afghanistan who traverse Eurasia. Reflecting on over a decade of intensive ethnographic fieldwork, Magnus Marsden introduces readers to a dynamic yet historically durable universe of commercial and cultural connections. Through an exploration of the traders' networks, cultural and religious identities, as well as the nodes in which they operate, Marsden emphasises their ability to navigate Eurasia's geopolitical tensions and to forge transregional routes that channel significant flows of people, resources, and ideas. Beyond the Silk Roads will interest those seeking to understand contemporary iterations of the Silk Road within the context of geopolitics in the region. This title is also available as Open Access.

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Introduction: Beyond the Silk Roads

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Beyond the Silk Roads

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Introduction: Beyond the Silk Roads

Summary

Beyond the Silk Roads