Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed lecture explores UAE’s unique position at heart of vital trade corridors

Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed

His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan attended a Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed lecture titled ‘The Silk Roads: Unravelling the Tapestry of Ancient and Modern Trade'.

The lecture was presented by Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at the University of Oxford, who explained that for thousands of years the silk roads have connected east and west – and north and south – enabling more than just the exchange of goods.

Originally used to describe the trading links between the Roman empire and China’s Han dynasty 2,000 years ago, the term ‘silk roads’ has come to represent a far wider set of connections which have helped spread innovations, cultures, and beliefs, and promoted international cooperation and tolerance.

Professor Frankopan explored the vital role played by the silk roads, both overland and over the seas, in linking Europe, Africa and Asia in an age of globalisation that dates back millennia. He further examined how the UAE and wider Gulf region have long occupied a strategic position at the heart of these vital corridors, engaging not only in trade but contributing to the exchange of new ideas, new technologies, new fashions and new tastes.

The noted historian and author said the ongoing importance of these routes in the modern age cannot be overstated, suggesting that the last century can be considered the age of the rebirth of the silk roads.

Citing China’s Belt and Road Initiative as one of the best-known modern trade corridors, he outlined how these new connections are part of today’s geopolitics and globalised trade.

Professor Frankopan referenced two new initiatives announced last year that aim to further boost international cooperation and economic development: the ‘Middle Corridor’ linking Central Asia with countries to the west of the Caspian Sea; and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, in which the UAE will play a strategically crucial role.

In summing up how focusing on the silk roads and the great histories of the past is relevant to us today, Professor Frankopan quoted the renowned scholar Ibn Sina, who said that to understand events, you need to understand their true causes. Studying these networks and their historic impact, said the speaker, allows us to understand the changes of the present and the future.

The lecture featured pre-recorded contributions from Dr Ghanim Samarrai, Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation; Dr Fatma Alsayegh, Professor of Emirates History at the UAE University; Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim, Professor and Chair of the Department of History and Islamic Civilisation at the University of Sharjah; and Dr Jayanti Maitra, Historian and Research Advisor at the National Library and Archives.

‘The Silk Roads: Unravelling the Tapestry of Ancient and Modern Trade’ will be broadcast on Saturday 27th January at 5pm on local TV networks and will be available to watch afterwards on the Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed YouTube channel (youtube.com/@MajlisMohamedbinZayed).