Ex Oriente Lux (“out of the East, light”) - this paraphrase of the Evangelical traditions, symbolizing the recognition of the spiritual and moral superiority of the East for centuries, nowadays acquires a new meaning and new interpretation. The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century changing the geopolitical ratio of forces in the world and contributing to the unprecedented growth of technological power and political influence of Western civilization, nonetheless, did not outshine the internal capabilities and the potential revival of Asia. First of all, Asia is based on the rich history of civilizations to which it gave life for many thousand years. The ancient land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates was the cradle of human civilization - of Sumer and Akkad, giving rise to writing. The lower flowing of the Nile was the birthplace of the civilization of ancient Egypt, which still impresses with the monumentality of the pyramids in Giza and with the magnificent indifference and calmness of the Great Sphinx guarding them. The Confucian civilization of China was developed in the valleys of Yangtze and Khuankhe creating perfect for its time statehood in the form of “Median” or “Celestial” Empire and spreading cultural influence throughout East Asia. One of the most original civilizations of the East - Harappa appeared between the rivers Ganges and Indus on the territory of India since ancient times gaining fame as a “country of the wiseacre.” The vast steppes of Eurasia from the foot of the Great Wall of China in the East to the Black Sea in the West became witnesses of the original civilization of nomadic peoples - from the Saks and Scythians in ancient times to the Turks and Mongols in the middle ages, which with their mobile life connected the East with the West and played a significant role as mediators in the dissemination of cultures and knowledge along the routes of the Great Silk Road. It could easily continue the list of civilizations generated by the rise of the human mind, labor and spirit, illuminating the history of all mankind from the East. However, these few examples are quite enough to remind once again the invaluable contribution of the peoples of Asia to the development of human culture.Currently, the gradual growth of the specific weight of Asia in the world economy becomes again the main trend in the modern world. It should be noted that until 1820, when the volume of production in the West increased sharply as a result of the industrial revolution, for over 60% of the world production was accounted for Asia. By the middle of the last century, this figure was less than 20%, but by the efforts of the next two generations this figure was doubled. The population and the volume of production of Asia are steadily and rapidly increasing, and today continent accounts for about 62% of the world’s population. Asia produces slightly more than 46% of the gross world production a figure exceeds the equivalent of indicators of the US and the EU together. According to the predictions, due to the higher growth rate of human resources and economy, the proportion of the population of Asia and volume of its production will continue to increase in the future, and possibly in 2030, the continent’s share in gross world product will again exceed 50%.All this became possible due to the so-called modernization or the gradual inclusion of the traditional civilizations of Asia into a global economic system based on marketing relations, the leader and driving force of which has remained Western civilization for a long time. The process of involvement of traditional societies in the system of modern marketing relations, as it is known, had always a complex and contradictory feature. Its results depend on many factors, including the abilities of this or that civilization to a full-fledged dialogue with another civilization, on its possibility to perceive certain elements of another civilization, to adapt them to their own conditions and to use for own progress and development. It is not by chance, therefore, we sometimes see completely opposite options for development in different countries of Asia, and not only Asia, which are involved in this market race. And if some countries demonstrate the wonders of economic and technological progress, and accordingly, growth of human well-being and social recovery, others, unfortunately, are still stagnated in the grip of backwardness and poverty.However, it is obvious that modernization is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, and it is not only limited to the area of economic relations. It also covers the spheres of ideological concepts, political institutions, legal forms, cultural and aesthetic orientations of society, etc. One of the major problems arising in the process of interaction and dialogue of civilizations, the question remains about the perception of the relevant “progressive” and “perspective” elements of other civilization while maintaining own basic values and system-forming components, which contain the base of internal, deep connections and create its original and unique appearance.In this regard, according to some researchers, for parameters of their economic, political and socio-cultural development Asian societies demonstrate a focus on a number of values that distinguish them from the Western model. It is supposed, that the features of Asia able to ensure its success in the 21st century will be such parameters as the subordination of personal aspirations to the collective principle, the desire to achieve consensus, hardworking, discipline, the priority of family and family values. Indeed, it can be stated with confidence that the Chinese tradition has created a very distinctive cultural world where interdependence is valued above independence, and the personality is understood and perceived more in the context of the community, the collective than as an independent individual. Even ideologists of “Asian supremacy,” proposing a program of supporting the “collectivist spirit” of Asia as a counterweight to Western individualism have appeared.It should be noted that similar ideas and interpretations find understanding and responses both in Asia and beyond its borders. Today, many are convinced that Confucian traditions can play an important positive role in the modernization of Asian countries. Moreover, more and more Western scholars find a good basis for effective democracy in the heritage of Confucian civilization, even if it does not fully comply with the standards of Western liberalism.The experience of the recent decades evidences that sometimes social ideas and thoughts, political and legal institutions, artistic and aesthetic values can be relatively quickly transferred from one civilization to another. However, this absolutely does not mean a mechanical perception of the receiving party of these components from the “donor,” as within the receiving civilization elements inherent only to it and continuing to function always maintained. This situation can create a multivariance of forms of existence in the conditions of the receiving those elements, which were adopted from the outside. Certainly, the possibility of their “rooting” and survival, or on the contrary, weak adaptation and subsequent disappearance depend on multiple factors, and first of all, on the “matrix” of the receiving civilization. But all these promote that even those societies and countries that are relatively successfully implementing the process of modernization, should carefully consider all possible positive or negative consequences to which can lead a planned reformation of society in the direction of modernization. Indeed, the careful study of the experience of countries that have already overcome a significant path in this direction is required.The very important experience of China is indicative in this relation. In the past decades, a fundamentally new model of socio-economic development has been introduced here, in the framework of which large-scale socio-economic and political changes are realized as a result of purposeful efforts of the state preserving its traditionally high role. This allowed China to achieve the reconstruction of a number of traditional structures in purpose with the accomplishment of universal socio-economic indicators providing the independence of society on external pressure and guaranteeing self-preservation of own distinctive culture. With all the revolutionary measures to achieve the accelerated development of Chinese society, this model can be nevertheless considered evolutionary, as it demonstrates the ability to modernize all social structures for maintaining of own civilization core. Therefore, the historical experience of Chinese civilization is so important for all Asian countries, longing to find their own path of development, which would equally consider the requirements of modern globalization with the desire to preserve their own cultural identity. An interesting and equal dialogue of civilizations and cultures in modern Asia creates a unique opportunity for this.In this sense, the historical experience of Azerbaijan, in our opinion, also deserves increasing focus. Although, the Republic of Azerbaijan is included in the category of small countries according to its space on the world map and human potential, nevertheless, it occupies an exclusively significant geographical position, being located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and also being at the border position between the regions of Eurasia and the Middle East. Modern Azerbaijan is a country located in the east of the Caucasus, sharing land borders with Russia in the north, with Turkey, Georgia and Armenia in the west, and with Iran in the south. At the same time, it is one of the five Caspian states, having common sea borders with Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.One of the immutable laws of geopolitics says that geography is fate. This entirely concerns to Azerbaijan. Since ancient times, being located at the crossroads of different cultures and civilizations, this country organically absorbed the elements of the East and the West. This factor has become the base archetype, contributing to the formation of a tolerant and open spirit of the Azerbaijani culture, by which it always distinguished.The history of statehood in the territory of Azerbaijan has more than two and a half millennia. So, we find information about the ancient states of Manna and Media yet in ancient Assyrian cuneiform. One of the results of the eastern invades of Alexander the Great and the defeat of the Achaemenid Empire was the emergence of the new state of Atropatena. Many historians believe that the modern name “Azerbaijan” was finally asserted under Arab reign in the 7th century by means of a number of phonetic transformations of the ancient troponin “Atropatena.” This state existed for several centuries, and, despite the following loss of political independence and becoming to be dependent on the powerful empires of ancient Persia, Atropatena retained its historical and cultural characters and space, giving start to the life of Azerbaijan.Around the same time, i.e. at the end of 2nd - the beginning of 1st century BC, another state Albania was originated in the Eastern part of the Southern Caucasus, which also turned into historical integrity and formed, developed and preserved its political and cultural identity for a long period. Adoption of Christianity by Albania, creation of own original alphabet, the common literary language, as well as own autocephalous church to a large extent contributed to it.The emergence and spread of Islamic religion in a vast region from China to North Africa became a major milestone of world history and gave birth to a new dynamic and bright civilization, which along with Confucian, Buddhist-Hindu and Christian civilizations formed an important part of the historical and cultural panorama of mankind. Since the 7th century, Azerbaijan, including the territories of the former Atropatena and Caucasian Albania, became a part of this civilization, which made up the main vector of its further historical development and defined the whole essence of its cultural, social and political existence.A significant part of that period in the history of mankind, which is accepted in science to be called as “Middle Ages,” in the history of Azerbaijan is associated with the being within the framework of Islamic civilization and Turkic culture. That era is connected with the further development of the statehood of Azerbaijan, which often held a metropolitan position in the composition of a number of medieval empires from Seljuk and Ilkhanid to Safavid powers. At this time, rapid growth in the economic life of Azerbaijan, the development of its productive force, the growth of cities, as well as unprecedented flourishing of culture, literature and science are observed. The names of great poets, writers, scientists of this land - Bahmanyar al-Azerbaijani, Nizami Ganjavi, Mahmud Shabustari, Hindushahi Nakhchivani, Imadaddin Nasimi, Muhammad Fizuli and many others inscribed in the Pantheon of world culture.Certainly, the most important condition for the economic and cultural development of any country is the existence of broad international trade, economic and cultural links. The Great Silk Road was the main intercontinental trade route connecting many countries and regions from the Far East to the Mediterranean countries by thousands of bonds in the era of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Due to the starting of the functioning of the Silk Road from the 2nd century BC., regular and stable relations of China were established with the states of Central Asia, the Middle East, including Azerbaijan, and further with the Roman Empire. An active trade exchange took place throughout this vast space. Riding and pack animals highly valued there, as well as grapes, which were used by the Chinese for wine production, were delivered to China from the west, Central Asia and the Middle East through this track. In addition, the exchange of economic experience facilitated to the fact that the Chinese have mastered crops such as bean, onion, alfalfa, saffron, cucumber, carrot, fig, pomegranate, walnut and others. In China, it also got acquainted with the technique of processing of wool, linen, carpet production. Elements of military equipment, glass goods, cosmetics, precious and semi-precious stones brought from the West were also valued here. In its turn, China introduced the West peoples with the production of silk, gunpowder, paper, items made from Chinese varnish and white porcelain, etc. This played an important role in their social and cultural evolution. Thus, spices became to be widely used in medicine and conservation of products. The use of paper instead of parchment and papyrus reduced the cost of this process for the replication of handwritten books.But spiritual, cultural and scientific links between different civilizations along the Silk Road routes had more important consequences for the history of mankind. Moreover, it is important that ideas, knowledge and spiritual values were spread not only along the East-West line, but also in the South-North direction. The spread of world religions through the Silk Road, due to which Buddhism was able to penetrate from India to the north, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Tibet, and from there to China, covering further by its influence on the Korean Peninsula and Japan is a indisputable fact now. And, if monks, missionaries, merchants, travellers did not move together with trade caravans and preach their religious ideas among local peoples, could Manichaeanism, Nestorian Christianity and Islam reach so far into the depths of Central Eurasia and the Far East from Front Asia?If to paraphrase these events in terms of modern political science terminology, the Silk Road became the most important channel of inter-civilizational contacts and dialogue in the pre-industrial era and the conductor of the first “globalization” in the history of mankind. Stimulating communication between the numerous peoples of the past, it facilitated the socio-economic development of the territories through which it passed. By means of the Silk Road, the civilizations of the East and the West gained the possibility of self-realization through the process of close interaction and mutual enrichment. It is considered that before the formation of the Silk Road, the civilizations of antiquity for a long time had a local character and developed apart, separated by the mountain ranges of the Tien Shan, Pamir and the Himalayas. Namely, the Silk Road made intercultural and inter-civilizational contacts frequent and brought them to a regular platform, expanding people’s perceptions of the world.Being located on a favorable position and a place of crossing of international trade routes from the East to the West and from the South to the North, Azerbaijan with all its history and culture was closely connected with the Silk Road. In ancient times its territory was crossed by the so-called “aorse road” described by ancient Greek and Roman authors, through of which goods from India were delivered to the North Caucasus, and from there to northern peoples. The Ancient waterway through the Caspian Sea, known as the “Strabo Road” named after the ancient geographer, also passed through Azerbaijan, linking Central Asia with the Black Sea region. In the late Middle Ages, the main arteries of the Silk Road connected the trade and handicraft centers of Azerbaijan with China in the East and with the cities of Italy of the Renaissance era. Namely, for centuries, these circumstances have formed the unique historical appearance of Azerbaijan, making it an active participant in the inter-civilizational dialogue between the East and West.It is no accidence that in 19th - the beginning of 20th centuries Azerbaijan became one of the pioneers of modernization among all Muslim countries and peoples. The first so-called “new-methodical” schools in the territory of the former Russian Empire appeared namely in Azerbaijan, in which modern secular education, the first examples of modern dramaturgy and theater, the first opera in the entire Muslim East were emphasized. And finally, in 1918 the first parliamentary republic in the Muslim world was proclaimed namely in Azerbaijan.During years of independence achieved in 1991, Azerbaijan, as a country taking a key position at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, successively protrudes for the expansion and deepening of international trade-economic and humanitarian cooperation between the East and West, for the development of global transport communications. It is not by chance, that this country became one of the initiators of the new Silk Road, protruding for the renewal of ancient routes through the construction of new railway and highways, seaports, pipelines. In September 1998, by the initiative of the national leader Haydar Aliyev, an international conference dedicated to the restoration of the historical Silk Road was held in Baku with the participation of heads and representatives of more than 30 states and many international organizations. According to the results of the conference, based on the European Union TRACECA program, the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for the Development of the Europe-the Caucasus-Asia Corridor was signed and the Baku Declaration was adopted. In accordance with the provisions of the Basic Multilateral Agreement, accommodation of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA in Baku was decided and on 21 February, 2001 it was opened. Thus, Azerbaijan has made a significant contribution to the restoration of the historical Silk Road.Azerbaijan is currently a participant of the project Silk Road Economic Belt implemented on the initiative of China. This Project involves a broad integration of many countries in Asia within the framework of mutually beneficial economic cooperation and will cover 40 countries with the 3 billion populations. As President Xi Jinping said, “In promoting this initiative, China will follow the principle of broad consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. Development Programs will be open and inclusive. They will become a real chorus, including all the countries along the route, but not only the solo of one China. This Silk Road is a way of equal consultation and cooperation without the head of the alliance.” Thus, the project Silk Road Economic Belt should become a visible embodiment of equal and mutually beneficial dialogue of civilizations. It is no accidence that Azerbaijan expressed its interest in participating in this cooperation. In December 2015, within the framework of the state visit of President Ilham Aliyev to China, Memorandum of Understanding on Jointly Promotion the Creation of the Silk Road Economic Belt was signed between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of People’s Republic of China.For this purpose, in recent years, important work on the development of transport infrastructure are carried out in Azerbaijan, new transport hubs, highways and railways are built, which are being integrated into the international network of Trans-Asian and Trans-European communications. As the result of multi-million investments by the state, Alyat - once a small settlement of Azerbaijan today has turned into the largest cargo port on the Caspian coast. The opening here of the complex Baku international sea trade port in May 2018 was realized in accordance with the state strategy on the transformation Azerbaijan into an important transport and logistics center of the region. The port is located at the intersection of the East-West and North-South transport corridors and plays a key role in expanding of the transit capabilities of the country. As the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan expressed at the opening ceremony of this complex, “creating a large transport infrastructure, we multiply the geopolitical and geo-economic significance of Azerbaijan. At the same time, these projects are expanding and strengthening international cooperation. If to look at the number, the strength of the countries participating in the East-West and North-South transport corridors, one can be sure, that this is a really a large-scale format of international cooperation. The East-West transport corridor connects China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and further European countries. The North-South transport corridor connects Pakistan, India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and the Nordic countries. And the South-West corridor connects countries in an even wider format. Azerbaijan is a country participating in all these projects.”This complex will perform the functions of a direct load collection point for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, which was put into operation on October 30, 2017 and provided the connection of trans-European and trans-Asian railway networks. The construction of this transport corridor became an important step towards the creation of transport routes of the new Silk Road intended to connect Europe with Asia.There is a clear understanding in Azerbaijan that interaction and cooperation at the economic level can be effective only when they are supported by active dialogue in the scientific, humanitarian and political spheres. The country is making a special contribution to the establishment and development of humanitarian cooperation between countries and continents. Large-scale international events Baku Humanitarian Forum, Global Baku Forum are periodically held in Baku. These initiatives create a platform for broad and open discussions on global issues and problems facing modern humanity, to share best practices on sustainable development, joint co-existence in inclusive societies, the expansion of multiculturalism, etc.Thus, passing a long way of historical development, possessing a rich cultural heritage, organically combining loyalty to traditional historical values and openness to the perception of modernity, Azerbaijan today also remains committed to enhancing international cooperation and understanding between countries and peoples and contributes to the dialogue of cultures and civilizations.