Abstract

From time immemorial the Silk Road, with its hundreds of byways, was considered the highway that linked the worlds of East and West. In the mid dle of the twentieth century, scholarly research revealed the crucial role played by oases in linking the North to the South; these oases, even more than the transversal lines of the Silk Roads, played the role of crossroads where successive waves of nomads, farmers, pastoral groups and city dwellers met. Today, thanks to UNESCO, we are working on land and sea to secure a different destiny for this network of roads. By balancing warp and woof, each side can give back some of its native wealth and help realize the ancient dream of peace