... civilian casualties but also to avoid provoking a direct conflict with the U.S.
Yang Xiaotong:
“Light of the World” No More. China and Russia Should Help Restore Multipolarity in the Middle East
Postmodernity as inoculation against war
However, the core reasons lie not outside, but inside the region. It appears that key actors—from Egypt to Syria, and from Turkey to Iran—are unwilling to engage in a full-blown war. Middle Eastern leaders are reluctant to shoulder the numerous risks and costs ...
... trade with all regional powers, simultaneously. Yet, only time will tell whether China has enough economic clout to act as an effective mediator and guarantor of the agreements reached. Obviously, the first test will be its involvement in the Saudi-Iranian de-escalation.
China’s success came against the backdrop of declining U.S. interest in the Middle East. In the eyes of regional public opinion, this casts somewhat of a shadow on the reputation of the United States as a traditional guarantor of regional stability, already tarnished by its hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan and its inability ...
... more compelling reason to intervene as buffer between both regional adversaries.’
Andrey Kortunov:
Russia and Iran: How Far from a Strategic Partnership?
Israel, Iran and diplomatic disparities
Another source of comparative advantage for Israel over Iran in orienting China’s Middle East posture to its favor lies in the diplomatic realm.
As discussed in the previous sections, the imperative of consolidating and growing BRI in the Middle East is ultimately sufficient for China to accept a regional
status quo
established via ...
... geoeconomic opportunities for China’s geo-industrial and geopolitical options. This means China’s
Middle East trade and industry policy
should be read as a geo-industrial foundation of a future geopolitics
Ruslan Mamedov:
Prospects for Russia–China Cooperation in the Middle East
For Iran, wider questions about the Iranian economy all seem to have natural answers in China too.
China’s civil nuclear technology transfer program
is bringing third-generation pressurized water Hualong One reactors to Iran, which can be deployed on inland ...
... the country.
The integration of the International North–South Transport Corridor running through Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran and into India with the Belt and Road Initiative could become an element of strategic Russia–China cooperation.
Russia and China may both be interested in gaining continental access to the Middle East using the territories and infrastructure of Iran and Iraq in order to strengthen their influence in the Arab Mashreq sub-region, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. The countries in the region may also be interested in this, as diversifying international relations will allow them to stabilise ...
... including the Islamic State — in addition to accusing Qatar of working closely with Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s 13 demands on Qatar — with Turkey backing up Qatar — appear... ... terrorist groups such as the Black Hand of that epoch. Could
conflicts in the wider Middle East
,’ much like conflicts in the Balkans prior to World War I, similarly... ... Union countries? How should Russia and the European Union respond?
Impact of rise of China
China is the elephant in the room, or as Mao might say, the monkey watching two...