Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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READ MY PUBLISHED WORK + GET ON WRITING AND WORLDBUILDING VOL I-III https://linktr.ee/timhickson

Thank you patrons — without you, I wouldn’t be able to do the work I do. patreon.com/hellofutureme (come join the Discord/writing workshops!)

FREE DISCORD discord.gg/vvMBpZa6Xh

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/tim_hickson_hfm
TWITTER twitter.com/TimHickson1
A WIZARD DID IT MUG https://store.nebula.app/collections/hello-future-me
EMAIL hellofuturemeyt@gmail.com
GOODREADS goodreads.com/author/show/18990222.Timothy_Hickson

SECOND CHANNEL tinyurl.com/ybhtz42g where I put extra notes for videos, vlogs, board game reviews, and other stuff from my life

SOURCES
The Maritime Silk Road: History of an Idea, Franck Bille, Sanjyot Mehendale, James W Lankton, Amsterdam University Press
Strategic Crossings of the Amu Darya in the System of the Great Silk Road and their Geo-Economic Significance, Multidisciplinary Journal of Science and Technology V6
Shipping companies divert vessels around Cape of Good Hope after strikes on Iran, Reuters, Louise Rasmussen and Kanjyik Ghosh
Trade and Political Fragmentation on the Silk Roads: The Economic Effects of Historical Exchange between China and the Muslim East, Lisa Blaydes, Christopher Paik, American Journal of Political Science, Vol00, N0
Thailand touts $31 billion 'Land Bridge' plan amid Hormuz crisis, courts Singapore, Reuters, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um
The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence, Journal of International Economics, Keith Head, Thierry Mayer, John RiesVol 81
Suez canal: what the ‘ditch’ meant to the British empire in the 19th century, Finlay Macdonald, TheConversation
Ways of Eating: Exploring Food Through History and Culture by Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft and Merry I. White
Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium by Kevin O'Rourke and Ronald Findlay
The Box by Marc Levinson

0:00 Intro
1:50 Trade is about imbalance
3:00 Waterways are essential
5:30 Path of Least Resistance
9:40 Political fragmentation
13:50 Networks not Paths
20:30 Trade is not neutral
27:00 Lingua Franca
32:00 Summary

POSTAL ADDRESS (if you’re kind enough to send me a letter or something!)

Tim Hickson
PO Box 69062
Lincoln, 7608
Canterbury, New Zealand

Script by meeeeeeeee
Video edited by Federica La Marca / Faith Lapine
youtube.com/@rythulian

The artist that designed my display pic! serem01.deviantart.com
The artist who design my cover photo:
- raidesart.deviantart.com
- raidesart.tumblr.com
- instagram.com/raidesart

Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/creator

Stay nerdy!
Tim