ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book shows the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and in particular its more advanced land routes, the Silk Road Economic Belt and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, has deep roots that go back before President Xi Jinping's announcements of the projects in 2013. It builds on a model that had been discussed and attempted before in Southeast Asia and Pakistan, but ultimately found its most effective outlet in Central Asia and back in Pakistan. Infrastructure and connectivity development lies at the heart of the BRI, encompassing China's view that they will bring local and regional prosperity, social contentment and political stability. Serious concerns also pertain to militant attacks on Chinese infrastructure projects in Pakistan, and internal instability in Afghanistan. The economic viability of some of the past projects that have laid the groundwork for the BRI has also been called into question.
