The Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative demonstrates the Chinese desire to become a political and economic leader of the modern world. In this article the author analyses popular views and opinions made by Chinese experts about the “Economic Belt”. He also describes the key trends occurred on the early stages of the initiative 's implementation. The work touches on such aspects as resource allocation, trade and investment policy, development of transport infrastructure. However, SREB initiative is likely to face some significant problems on the next stages such as intergovernmental and interagency communications, potential countermeasures from the side of the USA or regional powers, terrorism or high level of political uncertainty in some of the involved states. The author concludes by giving his view on the potential role of the Silk Road Economic Belt as a new element of the Chinese concept of foreign policy. Obviously, strategic objectives overweight the economic ones. However, the lack of concrete information makes it difficult to interpret the purposes of the project accurately. Beijing's real rationale remains an issue for further research to provide valuable insight for Russia-led integration projects in the post-Soviet space.

The article contains an information about the alignment of the Silk Road Economic Belt with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Russian integration projects the main of which is the Eurasian Economic Union. Complex Chinese initiative has many different aspects and dimensions relating to trade, investment, transport infrastructural, cultural and humanitarian issues. The author considers the problem of alignment in many aspects including the current state of Russian academic expertise and the possible ways of using the project in order to improve socioeconomic situation in the Russian territories in the Central Asia, Siberia and the Far East. The author stresses the security concerns, which seemed to be underestimated by China on the early stages of the program implementation. In this context, the author pays special attention to the threats of international terrorism, the rais ing instability in the states-participants, transnational crime and drug market. The author concludes that the project will not bring positive consequences unless Chinese authorities will closely cooperate with Russia and the regional organizations it associated with. As a result, it is possible to reach a partner cooperation between the states (although different in their economic potential), under which China will benefit effective using of its resources and overcome the current economic isolation of the Сentral Asian states. From the other hand, Russia will get a chance to improve the situation of economic inequality between its internal regions. Russian military and political power may guarantee successful assimilation of Chinese financial investments.

Long-standing objectives of U.S. foreign policy remain unaltered regardless of the person incumbent. The US elite unanimously see the purpose of maintaining its leading role in international relations. It is still possible that there will be some corrections the American foreign policy but they will not alter the general line. Donald Trump won the US presidential elections. He announced one of his strategic lines in foreign policy is to deter China. From the author's point of view, is to have complex consequences in economics, foreign-policy and defense strategies. The economic growth of China is declining, albeit for the past decades China became the second world power. The USA, at the same time, successfully overcame the consequences of financial crisis 2009. Nowadays, the GDP gap between considering countries is growing again and China is unlikely to reduce it in the short term. It is possible that during the diplomatic negotiations, the USA will reduce its influence in some world regions: they are ready to redistribute the spheres responsibility and demonstrate their attentive position to the interests of other state. The US-China relationships exist in changeable and dynamic forms and in this context, China relates to the stability of its partnership with Russia.

From the point of the human civilization history the main purpose of “One Belt, One Road’ Project is to revise the provisions of west-oriented ideology according to which the continental civilizations are subordinate to the maritime ones and the East is subordinate to the West. At the same time, “One Belt, One Road’ Project helps to restore through the return of Eurasia as the center of world civilization and is aimed at the creation of a foundation for a new civilization based on the principles of “unity of man and heaven” and “unity of man and the sea”. From the point of Chinese civilization history, the above-mentioned Project contributes to its triune transformation: the transition from a continental type of civilization to the maritime one, from an agrarian civilization to an industrial one, from a regional civilization to a global one. «One Belt, One Road» Project shows the increased consciousness of Chinese civilization, reflects its self-confidence and is an expression of the theoretical, practical and philosophical aspects of Chinese wisdom, creating the “effect of three fives”: changes unseen over the five-thousand-year history by which a transformation of the traditional Chinese culture is meant; changes unseen over the last five hundred years by which the renewal of modern civilization is meant; changes unseen over the past fifty years by which a realization of the Chinese dream is meant. Together they lead to a simultaneous revival and transformation of an ancient civilization, and also allow us to talk about the conjugation of the Chinese and world dreams.

One of the most significant international infrastructure projects of our time is undoubtedly the foreign policy initiative “One belt, One Road” announced by China ’s leader Xi Jinping in 2013. Despite the fact that the true reasons, scale and long-term goals of this global project of China have not been definitively formulated yet, it is obvious the “One Belt, One Road” Project has surpassed its originally stated infrastructure and economic guidelines and become an ambitious long-term plan to promote the Chinese economic model around the world. From the point the Chinese planners the initiative of Xi Jinping is able in the near future to provide a platform for harmonious coexistence and solidarity between various countries and entire civilizations that while remaining independent from each other politically and culturally, will be economically interdependent and share a common desire for a harmonious co-development. The principles and ideals on which, to the mind of the initiators of the “One Belt, One Road” Project, such a civilizational dialogue of equals should be built, require the most serious attention and careful study. Unfortunately, in most modern publications on this topic, the analysis of the reasons, goals and objectives of the global Chinese initiative is carried out only on the basis of official documents of the Chinese government and the positions of those experts in China, whose opinion rather reflects their own attitude to the “One Belt, One Road” Project than is decisive in the process of internal Chinese discussion on this issue. It seems that this approach does not contribute to the formation of an objective understanding of the conditions under which this new foreign policy of China is born and to what consequences it could lead. In contrast, in this article, an attempt is made to consider the origins and to interpret the goals of “One Belt, One Road” Project through the analysis of the discussion taking place inside China which is not intended for the external audience.

The article is dedicated to the perspectives of the Chinese initiative of the Silk Road economic belt from the prospective of the Central Asian states' national interests. The author claims that the common understanding of Central Asia as a united region is limited: there are many conflicts and problems between states which haven't yet been resolved. The problems of borders and ethnical enclaves remain to be potentially dangerous as well as recurrent problems of regionalism and tribalism. The essential water resources are distributed in a highly disproportionate way. During a long period of time Central Asia has been taking the position of an intercontinental corridor, linking Asia and Europe, and that is why external actors showed no interest in building a Central Asian integration project. Besides, political elites of Central Asia also were not interested in appearance of supranational institutes which will inevitably create a highly competitive political order. Nonetheless, the very idea of the Silk Road economic belt, in political terms, was approved by all the Central Asian states. This paradox can be partly explained referring to the absence of political limitations, imposed on states by the project. However, it doesn't mean that China experiences altruism. The author stresses that the Silk Road economic belt has never been a pure integration project. The core element of the concept is not the improvement of national industrial potential of the countries the Road crosses but the idea of the intensive development of western regions of China.