The New Silk Road and the Northern Distribution Network: A Golden Road to Central Asian Trade Reform?

The United States is promoting a “New Silk Road” that would link Afghanistan to Southern and Central Asia via an interconnected web of transit corridors, which could transform the regional trade environment, tear down commercial barriers, and offer economic benefits for all.

The New Silk Road and the Northern Distribution Network is a constructive assessment of the conditions and challenges facing this effort that asks and answers the following questions: 

1. Is the Northern Distribution network incentivizing regional cooperation and border reforms?
2. Is the Northern Distribution Network helping to fight corruption in Central Asia?
3. Has the Northern Distribution Network made transhipment through Central Asia more efficient?
4. Are ordinary Central Asian citizens benefitting from Northern Distribution Network trade?