China's Belt and Road Initiative

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is among China’s principal economic, infrastructure, and foreign policy projects.  Dating to 2013, the BRI is conceptualized as a “new Silk Road,” with polar, maritime, and overland dimensions.  This talk will consider the origins of this gargantuan development project and consider how it is playing out in different parts of Eurasia and other regions. 

Hugh Shapiro is an associate professor of East Asian history at the University of Nevada, Reno.  His extensive archival and fieldwork in China, Japan, and Taiwan regards the history of disease in comparative context.  His recent work appears in volumes published by Harvard University Press and Globalyceum.

Hugh has enjoyed visiting appointments at Princeton University, at universities in China, Japan, and Taiwan, and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.  Hugh’s other research and teaching interests include Sino-Russian-Central Asian relations and the history of de-colonization and authoritarianism.  

As a Smithsonian Journeys Expert, he has lectured in 20 countries in Eurasia.  He received the Li-Qing Prize for the History of Chinese Science and won his University’s highest teaching award.  Hugh earned his B.A. from Stanford University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.