Srl | Item |
1 |
ID:
139380
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
This essay offers an overview of the Chinese posture and debate toward the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region. The author presents China’s outlook toward the region as a laboratory for an innovative course in Beijing’s future foreign policy. The analysis is divided into three parts: a critical introduction that assesses the role of WANA within the spectrum of Chinese hierarchical vision of the international system, a detailed assessment of the factors that are transforming WANA into one of the most crucial sectors of Beijing’s foreign policy, and a detailed overview of the internal debate on China’s evolving role in the region.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
ID:
139387
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
Although studies on China’s Middle East policy frequently separate Israel from the rest of the region, Beijing has always been aware of regional contradictions and tried to navigate between the two sides it perceived as interconnected. China’s attempts to adopt a balanced relationship with both sides in the 1950s were later replaced by a zero-sum game policy in which Israel was totally excluded. Since the 1980s Beijing has resurrected its balanced Middle East policy. While still sticking to nonintervention in regional conflicts, the Chinese implicitly offer their own experience of using economic means to overcome sociopolitical tensions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
ID:
139384
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
As political instability challenges China’s growing interests in the Mediterranean region, the European Union might prove to be the right partner for Beijing. This essay assesses the prospects for EU-Chinese security cooperation in the region. A shared doctrinal concern with nontraditional security provides a solid foundation, as proved by antipiracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden. This paves the way for nontraditional security cooperation in the Mediterranean region, for instance in the field of noncombatant evacuation. Yet a crucial precondition is that the EU behaves more coherently, in order to be perceived by China as a reliable partner.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
ID:
139385
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
The New Silk Road Economic Belt, among other newly launched foreign policy initiatives, illustrates that China is broadening its strategic aperture and making more efforts to “look westwards” and “march westwards,” which are crucial as China consolidates its status as the world’s largest developing country and promotes South-South cooperation. To better understand Beijing’s interest in reviving the Silk Road and it westward march, one needs to pay closer attention to the ongoing overhaul of China’s periphery diplomacy. Expansion of its influence to the west is a strategic necessity for China’s involvement in great power dynamics, the improvement of its international environment, and the strengthening of its development resilience. China faces a number of daunting challenges in implementing this grand strategy. These challenges include seeking support from regional powers who are suspicious of China’s strategic intentions and addressing China’s own knowledge and capacity deficits in dealing with the governmental and nongovernmental actors in the Central Asia, South Asia, and Middle East regions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
ID:
139383
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
Since about 2005 relations between Greece and China have gained unprecedented momentum. At first glance, the timing and the reasons behind such a boost in bilateral relations between countries so distant and unequal in size are not entirely obvious. This essay examines how the strategic priorities of Greece and China met and describes the turning point that offered the opportunity. Emphasis is given to collaboration in the maritime sector, which is a strong asset of both countries. The essay also studies the strategic implications of such cooperation for the broader region of the eastern Mediterranean and the prospects it presents for Euro-Atlantic strategic priorities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
ID:
139379
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
Asia’s new economic and political strength—particularly China’s—and its increasing economic ties with Europe are giving the Mediterranean region an opportunity to once again be the place in the world where “things happen.” This opportunity is amplified by rapid economic growth in Africa, the countries’ of which, in the past decade, have exploited the discovery of new oil and gas fields and developed such sectors as mining, fishing, and agriculture. Now Africa is a key supplier to China and a growing market for Chinese and European goods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
ID:
139382
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
This essay analyzes Sino-Italian relations against the background of the increasing salience of the West Asia and North Africa region in Rome’s and Beijing’s strategic calculus. As China projects westward through its New Silk Road strategy, culminating at the intersection of the Mediterranean Sea and Europe’s core, the spectrum of Italy’s foreign policy options opens to innovative forms of cooperation with China to meet the challenges emanating from the European Union’s southern and southeastern neighborhoods. An integrated study of the dynamics of Sino-Italian bilateral relations and of the mounting strategic exposure both countries have across West Asia and North Africa underscores the urgency of consolidating the societal foundations of the strategic partnership ten years after its launch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
ID:
139381
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
The past two decades have witnessed a significant intensification of the bilateral relations between Spain and China that, in spite of the economic and political significance for the former, has received little scholarly attention. This essay explores the evolution of this relationship and its main dimensions. In addition, the essay analyzes the asymmetries and challenges the relationship raises. It argues that the growing influence of Beijing in the Mediterranean is not happening at the expense of Spain or other Southern European countries—the Asian giant has been able to create its own space within the region. In addition, this trend should be perceived by Madrid, Rome, or Athens not as a threat to their traditional privileged positions but as an opportunity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
ID:
139386
|
|
|
Summary/Abstract |
The Middle East is going through a period of profound change in the wake of the Arab Spring, and there are several dynamics and actors shaping the contours of the change. China is one of the relatively new actors on this stage, actively engaging the Middle East both economically and politically. Beijing’s dependence on Middle East hydrocarbons is increasing, and the stakes are rising in the competition between global powers seeking to secure their interests in the region. It is therefore crucial to examine how relations between China and the countries of the region are taking shape. This essay investigates how Turkey’s relations with China have been evolving in recent years within the context of a changing Middle East and how these relations, at both the bilateral and the regional levels, will be an important factor shaping the dynamics of a transforming region.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|