As an ambitious project, the New Silk Roads create global value chains in a network that connects Europe, Asia, and Africa and that are characterised by maximum diversity in languages, traditions, values, as well as political, social, and economic systems and settings. As one of the most fascinating and risky developments driving the formation of a global society, this initiative not only seeks the economic integration of more than 70 countries, but also involves many political and cultural challenges. Accordingly, it represents a global economic, political, social, and cultural experiment with potentially beneficial, but also potentially disruptive, consequences for all involved. It is against this backdrop that this book focuses on European perspectives: regarding the geo-political and economic implications of the New Silk Roads for, on the one hand, Europe's and the EU's role in the world and, on the other hand, for Europe's coherence as a political and economic regional network. In this way, this book aims to contribute understanding of what the New Silk Roads means in economic, political and cultural terms for the European countries involved.