Within the last few years, Iran has demonstrated its strong political will to re-emerge as a regional transportation hub. The country’s effort to improve its physical connectivity and become a centerpiece for regional supply chains has been spearheaded by an ambitious national railway development plan. This article evaluates existing and planned railway routes with a focus on Iran-Europe transport corridors and revisits Iran´s recent accomplishments in rail connectivity.
Apr 2, 2018
As Europe disappears, Asia coheres. The supercontinent is becoming one fluid, comprehensible unit of trade and conflict, as the Westphalian system of states weakens and older, imperial legacies – Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Turkish – become paramount.
Mar 12, 2018
As Asia’s infrastructure competition unfolds, interest in how infrastructure investment is carried out has been rising. China’s Belt & Road Initiative, which aspires to connect nearly two-thirds of the global population and 60 percent of its GDP, along with other infrastructure initiatives across the region have raised the premium on understanding different approaches.
Dec 13, 2017
“Beijing’s star is rising in central and eastern European nations,” reports the Financial Times, citing data collected in collaboration with the CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project.
Nov 27, 2017
“Eurasia is thus the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played,” the late Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote two decades ago. His words ring true again as a massive infrastructure competition unfolds across the Eurasian supercontinent. If the roads, railways, and other connections that are emerging today shift flows of goods, people, and ideas, the long-term implications could be profound. This collection includes essays from our Big Questions series, in which leading experts examine this potentially epochal shift.
Nov 6, 2017