The Middle Corridor Linking Asia and Europe: Promise and Challenges

The Middle Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transit Route (TITR), is an emerging transcontinental, multi-modal network of transit routes. It offers an alternative both to the Northern Route through Russian territory and to the sea-based routes that dominate Asia-Europe trade. In particular, the Middle Corridor links China to the Central Asian states, passing through the Caspian Sea to the South Caucasus states and continuing to Europe. Amid severe economic sanctions on Russia due to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine as well as disruptions to the Suez Canal caused by Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, the Middle Corridor has, over the past two years, garnered increased attention and pledges of funding for its development. What is the Middle Corridor’s potential, and what steps need to be taken to ensure it is fully realized?

On October 16, 2024, the Center for the National Interest hosted the sixth in a monthly series of expert discussions organized by the Center’s Central Asia Connectivity Project.

—Stephen Benson is the president and founder of Littoral Solutions Inc. Over 25 years, he conducted naval operations around the globe and crafted and implemented international security strategy and policy. He oversaw the assessments of the U.S. Navy Expeditionary Warfare portfolio of systems and platforms worth over $100B. Benson is a published graduate of the Italian Naval War College. He was the U.S. Navy Fellow to CSIS and spent a decade supporting the Russia and Eurasia program initiatives. Benson spent 17 years introducing Saab Group Sweden to the U.S. Defense Department and Industry. He founded and led Littoral Operations Center at the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Recently, he assumed the role as president of Laser Light Federal LLC, a subsidiary of the global telecom company Laser Light Communications.

—Damjan Krnjević Mišković is professor of practice at ADA University in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he also serves as director for policy research, analysis, and publications at its Institute for Development and Diplomacy. He is a former senior adviser to the President of the UN General Assembly, the President of Serbia, and the Foreign Minister of Serbia. At the turn of the century, he served as managing editor of The National Interest where he was also a fellow in European Affairs at the Center for the National Interest.

—Marsha McGraw Olive, PhD, is a scholar and retired World Bank official who managed strategy and operations in Eastern Europe and Eurasia for nearly three decades. Dr. Olive is on the faculty of Johns Hopkins SAIS, an Advisory Board member of the Caspian Policy Center and Eurasia Foundation, and Global Fellow at the Wilson Center. In 2022 she received a George F. Kennan Fellowship to research U.S. strategy in Central Asia. In March, she moderated the first B5+1 Forum in Almaty, a public-private dialogue between the U.S. and Central Asian states.

Andrew Kuchins, Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, moderated the discussion.

The Central Asia Connectivity Project’s first five events on Russia, Afghanistan, China, the Gulf States, and hydrocarbons are available to watch now on our website and YouTube.