THE NEW SILK ROAD: A GEORGIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Today, the discussion on building new relationships between the East and West has become increasingly intense. In the literature of political science, East and West have once more assumed geographical connotations, unlike the times of the Cold War, when, with the exception of school textbooks, they had political meaning and were identified with the two competing blocs in the world order. Such a semantic transformation occurred, thanks to the changes of historic importance that took place on the political world map. The demise of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the so-called Socialist Bloc were a demonstration of those changes. It can be argued with some reservations that the world today is more open, free from ideological and military confrontation and inclined towards integration. To this, we must also add the revolutionary changes in information and computer technology as well as in telecommunications that we are witnessing now. These changes serve as both the cause and the effect of the gradual globalisation of development processes.