What Is New about the New Silk Road?

China’s New Silk Road is far different from earlier routes that were similarly named. It promises to link all of Eurasia and Africa in a single hemispheric market with additional connections to the Arctic Sea and Latin America. It builds upon a historic network of Islamic civilization underpinning modern nations that aspire to become regional powers in their own right. China’s deepening involvement in these countries’ conflicts is also reverberating throughout Chinese society. Inside China, blowback from the New Silk Road is aggravating tensions between religious and ethnic groups and widening splits between rival regions.