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Jacopo Maria Pepe examines the rapid development of non-energy transport infrastructure in the broader Eurasian space. By doing so, the author considers the ongoing structural transformation of the Eurasian continent against the backdrop of deepening commercial interconnectivity in Eurasia into broader areas of trade, supported by the rapid development of rail connectivity. He frames this process in a long-wave historical analysis and considers in detail the geopolitical, geo-economic, and theoretical implications of deepening physical connectivity for the relationships among China, Russia, Central Asia, and the European Union.

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Jacopo Maria Pepe is currently Associate Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and Adjunct Professor at SAIS-Johns Hopkins University, Washington-DC. Previously he has worked as a research associate and lecturer at the Berlin Centre for Caspian Region Studies, Freie Universität Berlin.

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