Sinostan: China's Inadvertent Empire

China's geo-economic vision is transforming the Eurasian continent. Acclaimed foreign policy experts recount their travels across Central Asia, bearing witness through interviews and personal experience to the growing Chinese influence in the region, and what this means for those both within and beyond the boundaries of its 'inadvertent empire'.

Raffaello Pantucci, Senior Associate Fellow , Royal United Services Institute and Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, Alexandros Petersen, an academic, writer, and geopolitical energy specialist,

Raffaello Pantucci is an internationally acclaimed foreign and security policy expert. He is a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore and a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. He has worked at influential strategic studies think tanks in London, Washington, and Shanghai, providing advice to governments, international organizations, and companies alike. He is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, New York Times, and Foreign Policy.

Alexandros Petersen was an academic, writer, geopolitical energy expert. He published three books and over 120 articles, reports, and chapters in books, and made more than 50 media appearances internationally. Petersen addressed the implications of the West withdrawing its engagement from the Caucasus and Central Asia, the expansion of Chinese influence, and Russia's strategic interests. He taught at the American Universities of Afghanistan and Central Asia, having lived and travelled extensively across Eurasia. He was killed in a Kabul restaurant bombing and shooting attack.