ABSTRACT
Brussels continues to look more toward Boston than Beijing. As Frederick John Teggart demonstrated in 1939 in his book Rome and China: A Study of Correlations in Historical Events, major developments in the history of the Roman Empire were preceded by and provoked by major developments in the history of the Chinese Empire (Teggart 1939). As China repelled wave after wave of Central Asian tribes attacking the East, these tribes turned West and successively displaced still more tribes closer and closer to Europe. The Xiongnu led to the Huns. Yet ‘European’ history still ignores the implications of Teggart’s study and continues to take Euroamerica as the centre of world affairs. The One Belt, One Road initiative will eventually have as great an impact on Europe’s future as developments in the Chinese Empire had on Europe’s past. What obsolete paradigms prevent analysts and planners from detecting or recognising the consequences of China’s mid-to-long term Eurasian development strategy? And what new paradigms might open their minds? What tools do we need to assess the New Silk Road strategy?
