Ahrar al-Sham al-Nusra al-Qaeda Bashar al-Assad Caeser Act Civil Resistance Civil War Conflict Counter-Terrorism Democratic Union Party (PYD) Energy Sector Foreign Investment Free Syrian Army Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Humanitarian Aid Industrial Organisation Infrastructure Islamic State Jaish Khalid bin al-Walid Kurdish Groups Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Land and Property Restitution Militarisation Operation Peace Spring People’s Protection Units (YPG) Post-War Recovery Rebel Groups Rebuild Syria Conference Reconstruction Refugees Sanctions Southeastern Anatolia Project Syrian Democratic Forces Turkish Strategy Uprising
Yun Sun
In the past two decades, China has rapidly emerged as an increasingly consequential economic, political, and security actor in the Middle East. China is the largest consumer of Middle Eastern oil, Chinese trade with the region has more than tripled over the past 20 years, and China is playing an expanding role in regional peace, security, and diplomacy. Beijing’s strategy in the Middle East has emphasized a comprehensive plan to expand its influence in almost all key domains. The next four years will be essential to China’s acceleration of its political, economic, and diplomatic engagement in the Middle East, with a strong focus on diversifying economic ties, involvement in peace and mediation, and managing a regional power equilibrium that has shifted as the result of the war in Gaza.
Yun Sun, is a nonresident fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative and the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings. She also serves as co-director of the East Asia Program and director of the China Program at the Stimson Center. Her expertise is in Chinese foreign policy, U.S.-China relations, and China’s relations with neighboring countries and authoritarian regimes. From 2011 to early 2014, she was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, appointed by the Foreign Policy Program and the Global Economy and Development Program, where she focused on Chinese national security decision-making processes and China-Africa relations. From 2008 to 2011, Yun Sun was the China Analyst for the International Crisis Group (ICG) based in Beijing, specializing on China’s policy towards conflict countries and the developing world. Prior to ICG, she worked on U.S.-Asia relations in Washington, D.C. Her work is regularly cited by Voice of America, Axios, and other prominent news outlets and publications. Yun Sun earned her master’s degree in international policy and practice from George Washington University, as well as an M.A. in Asia Pacific studies and a B.A. in international relations from Foreign Affairs College in Beijing.
7,90 €Add to basket
Jeremy Garlick
China and the United States have very different approaches to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Over the long-term, the U.S. is engaged geopolitically, backing Israel and Saudi Arabia against Iran, and taking military action in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen. In contrast, China pursues economic interests through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), strategically hedging and building relations with the leaders and elites of all countries in the region regardless of their rivalries.
Jeremy Garlick, is the director of the Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies at Prague University of Economics and Business. His research focuses on China’s international relations, especially through the Belt and Road Initiative.
7,90 €Add to basket
Geoffrey F. Gresh
China is potentially well positioned to take a larger maritime role in the MENA region as it works toward sustaining its blue-water naval capacity and reach. It is using new maritime geoeconomic investments from the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and Gulf to create and fortify maritime trade and logistics networks that are growing increasingly independent from the global system that has been dominated for so long by the United States and the West. This system includes a new network of Chinese-dominated ports and infrastructure projects, in addition to a robust telecommunications network aided by submarine cables newly laid across the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. China’s maritime geoeconomic interests are giving way to increased investments in its blue-water naval capabilities. China wants to avoid another Libya or Yemen scenario in the future where it had to rescue Chinese foreign nationals. To do so, it will need to take a more proactive security stance to ensure that its growing investments and regional interests are protected. It cannot rely on another power and therefore will need to continue the forward projection of its military and navy.
Geoffrey F. Gresh, is Professor of International Security Studies at the College of International Security Affairs (CISA), National Defense University in Washington, D.C. with a primary research focus on maritime and naval affairs. He has previously served as the Department Chair of International Security Studies, CISA’s thesis/portfolio co-director, and as CISA’s Director of the South and Central Asia Security Studies Program.
7,90 €Add to basket
Kenan Dagci
China’s diplomatic strategy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) employs a hedging strategy to balance relations with rival states like Saudi Arabia and Iran. This approach allows China to maximize economic and strategic gains while avoiding entanglement in regional conflicts. Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), economic partnerships, diplomatic neutrality, and limited military engagements, China maintains flexibility to secure its interests amid regional complexities.
Kenan Dagci, Ph.D., is the former Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution (2010–2014) and the Institute of Social Sciences (2014–2016) at Yalova University. He also served as a visiting scholar at Cornell University (2011–2012). His research focuses on European Union foreign policy, Turkey-EU relations, and conflict resolution, with a particular emphasis on the Middle East and Central Asia.
7,90 €Add to basket
Yao Chen and Tuncay Kardaş
This study analyses the mechanisms through which China performs its balancing act when dealing with regional rivalries in the Middle East, especially between Saudi Arabia and Iran. We argue that unlike traditional balance of power practices in the Western context, China’s understanding can be better described with the Chinese phrase “Ping-Heng” (平衡). The latter refers to holding a balanced position among states in rivalry and keeping good relations with all of them. China performs its balancing strategy mainly through three mechanisms. Diplomatically, it establishes same-level partnerships with both by paying identical state visits, and by promptly soothing one’s dissatisfaction with diplomatic interactions with the other. Institutionally, China seeks to absorb Saudi Arabia and Iran into multi-lateral organizations, such as SCO and BRICS, by providing platforms for them to promote mutual communication and cooperation. Militarily, China keeps abundant arms sales to Saudi while holding more drills with Iran to alleviate security concerns of each side. Under China’s balanced act, Saudi Arabia and Iran understand China as a reliable broker.
Yao Chen, PhD Candidate, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Shanghai International Studies University, China.
Tuncay Kardaş, Professor, Director of Middle East Institute, Sakarya University, Türkiye.
7,90 €Add to basket