Abstract:

The authors explore the development prospects and the potential influence of the land-based part of the Belt and Road Initiative (the BRI) - the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) – for  the Eurasian countries. The issue research relevance is determined by the unprecedent scale of the China’s developmental initiative as well as by a bunch of geopolitical and geo-economic interests of most Eurasian countries involved in. Furthermore, it represents an early example of China's independent design in the global governance while its multi-purpose nature will influence the military political, trade, economic and humanitarian relations in the region in question. Since the information on the project’s purposes and content as well as the participants composition is continuously evolving, the study is aimed, first, to summarize the facts and ideas about the initiative’s characteristics, second, to access its economic potential and prospects, third, to empathize the Russia’s position and interests in regard.