United States: New Silk Road Initiative

The US New Silk Road Initiative was originally conceived by Frederick Starr, a John Hopkins University scholar, in 2005.

美国“新丝绸之路计划”起源于霍普金斯大学斯塔尔于 2005年提出的“新丝绸之路”构想。

The initiative was formally announced by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in July 2011 at the Second US-India Strategic Dialogue in India. It aims to build a new geopolitical block consisting of the pro-US market economies with secular political systems. With a special focus on Afghanistan, it seeks to expand cooperation among Central and South Asian countries in areas such as energy and transport as well as on political and security issues to boost local economic and social development and serve US strategic interests in the region.

2011年7月，时任美国国务卿希拉里在印度参加第二次美印战略对话期间正式提出了“新丝绸之路计划”：以阿富汗为中心，通过中亚、南亚在政治、安全、能源、交通等领域的合作，建立一个由亲美的、实行市场经济和世俗政治体制的国家组成的新地缘政治版块，推动包括阿富汗在内的中亚地区国家的经济社会发展，服务于美国在该地区的战略利益。

In October of the same year, the US Department of State instructed US embassies in the countries concerned to rebrand its Central and South Asia policies under the New Silk Road framework, and to notify international partners accordingly. Such a move marked the formal inclusion of the New Silk Road Initiative in US official policies.

同年10月，美国国务院向美国驻有关国家大使馆发出电报，要求将美国的中亚、南亚政策统一命名为“新丝绸之路”战略，并将其向国际伙伴通报。这标志着“新丝绸之路计划”正式成为美国的官方政策。

Some of the New Silk Road Initiative projects have now been completed, including the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan Railway and Tajikistan’s Sangtuda Hydropower Station, which is already supplying power to Afghanistan. Judging by official releases and the progress of the initiative, the US has shown no intention of giving it up despite challenges in terms of backward support infrastructure, insufficient funds, lack of mutual trust, and terrorist and extremist threats in the region.

目前，“新丝绸之路计划”的部分项目已经完工，如乌兹别克斯坦—阿富汗铁路已经竣工，塔吉克斯坦桑土达水电站开始向阿富汗送电。从美国的官方表态及实际进展来看，该计划虽然面临许多困难和风险，如地区内国家基础设施落后、资金不足、相互缺乏信任及恐怖主义和极端主义肆虐等，但美国从未明确放弃该计划。