1st Edition

Routledge Handbook on China–Middle East Relations

Edited By Jonathan Fulton Copyright 2022
    432 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    432 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This handbook brings together a mix of established and emerging international scholars to provide valuable analytical insights into how China’s growing Middle East presence affects intra-regional development, trade, security, and diplomacy.

    As the largest extra-regional economic actor in the Middle East, China is the biggest source of foreign direct investment into the region and the largest trading partner for most Middle Eastern states. This portends a larger role in political and security affairs, as the value of Chinese assets combined with a growing expatriate population in the region demands a more proactive role in contributing to regional order. Exploring the effect of these developments, the expert contributors also consider the reverberations in great power politics, as the United States, Russia, India, Japan, and the European Union also have considerable interests in the region. The book is divided into four sections:

    • Historical and policy context
    • State and regional case studies
    • Trade and development
    • International relations, security, and diplomacy.

    This volume is an essential reference for scholars and policy-makers in the fields of international relations, political sociology, international political economy, and foreign policy analysis. Area studies specialists in Middle Eastern Studies, China Studies, and East Asian Studies will also find it an invaluable resource.

    PART I Overview

    1 China’s emergence as a Middle East power

    Jonathan Fulton

    2 China and the Middle East: An autobiographical perspective

    Yitzhak Shichor

    3 The Middle East in China’s global strategies

    Tim Niblock

    4 China in Middle Eastern strategic thinking

    Anoushiravan Ehteshami

    5 Strategic convergence or strategic rivalry? China and America in the Middle East

    Christopher K. Colley

    PART II Relations among regions and states

    6 China and the Gulf region: From strangers to partners

    Mohamed Bin Huwaidin

    7 China and the Levant: Unlike any other world power

    Yoram Evron

    8 China and North Africa: History, economic engagement and soft power

    Tin Hinane El Kadi

    9 China– Egypt relations during the BRI era and beyond

    Duan Jiuzhou

    10 China and Saudi Arabia: From enmity to strategic hedging

    Naser Al- Tamimi

    11 Turkey’s relations with China and the Belt and Road Initiative

    Altay Atli

    12 China–Iran relations: A low- quality comprehensive strategic partnership

    Jacopo Scita

    13 Israel and China: Past distance, present cooperation, uncertain future

    Roie Yellinek

    14 Frozen in time: China–Algeria relations from socialist friendship to pandemic opportunism

    Lina Benabdallah

    15 Sino-Omani relations

    Mohammed Al- Sudairi

    PART III Trade and development

    16 China’s evolving energy relations with the Middle East

    Philip Andrews-Speed and Lixia Yao

    17 China’s approach to post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle East

    Samuel Ramani

    18 China’s nascent soft power projection in the Middle East and North Africa: Cultural, educational, and media initiatives

    Chai Shaojin

    19 Technological dimensions of China– MENA economic relations

    Robert Mogielnicki

    PART IV International relations, security, and diplomacy

    20 China’s partnership diplomacy in the Middle East

    Degang Sun

    21 Chinese private security companies in the Middle East

    Alessandro Arduino

    22 Community-building and social engagement: The overseas Chinese community in the United Arab Emirates

    Wang Yuting

    23 The China model and the Middle East

    Mehran Kamrava

    24 A tough job: Chinese diplomats in the Middle East and North Africa

    Andrea Ghiselli

    25 China and the Palestinian– Israeli conflict

    Guy Burton

    26 Chinese diplomatic outreach to MENA: Cooperation forums and special envoys

    Dawn C. Murphy

    Biography

    Jonathan Fulton is an assistant professor of political science in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council.