Introduction to the STEEPVL Analysis of the New Silk Road Initiative

The Chinese New Silk Road (NSR) initiative seems to be the greatest logistics endeavor of our times. It will boost infrastructure investments and create many new relations. The primary aim of the study is to determine the factors influencing the development of the rail part of the NSR. The methodology of the paper includes a desk research about the NSR potential and identification of STEEPVL analysis factors shaping the NSR. The factors are grouped into seven dimensions: social, technological, economic, ecological, and political, and related to values and legal aspects. They constitute factors that can either enhance, accelerate or hamper the success of the NSR. The outcomes of the study comprise the introduction to the complete STEEPVL analysis. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.