Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Mohammad Sadegh Kooshaki, Assistant Professor of Regional Studies, University of Tehran
2 PhD student in Regional Studies, University of Tehran
Abstract
Since the early 1990s, China has moved its energy supply to develop and expand cooperation with countries in the MENA region. The country also intensified its cooperation with the countries of the MENA region in 2004 by establishing the Arab-Chinese Cooperation Forum. China's economic presence in the MENA region is growing. The main question of the article is how will the Chinese military-security presence in the MENA region increase? The paper hypothesizes that China's growing economic presence and investment require a military presence to secure it. Findings show that increasing China's interests in the MENA region (maintaining energy security, protecting half a million citizens and investment companies) will be the main reason for the increase in China's security-military presence and influence in the MENA region. By applying the theory of realism and descriptive-analytical method, the relevant issues will be tried and examined. The documentary method will also be the basis for collecting material in this article.
Keywords
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Game-Changer?. The Washington Quarterly, 40(1), 127–142.
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Iran and Saudi Arabia’s Role in China’s Energy Diplomacy. Iran Economic
Review, 22(3), 709-721.
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Imperative—Overseas Citizen Protection. Journal of Contemporary China,
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Survival, 61(6), 153-166.
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rebuilding-of-syria.
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03/05/c_137868900.htm.
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oil-production-grows-for-first-time-in-four-years-101505469.html.
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India Based on Crude Oil Trade Flow Analysis. IOP Conference Series: Earth
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Available at: https://www.aei.org/china-global-investment-tracker/.
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Extremists. The Financial Times (04/10/2020). Available at: https://www.
ft.com/content/3f4dc794-8141-11e4-b956-00144feabdc0.
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Envisioning Iran’s Role. In: China's Presence in the Middle East: The
Implications of the One Belt, One Road Initiative. Ehteshami, A., & Horesh,
N, London: Routledge, 174-191.
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(2020). Weighing U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Iraq: Strategic Risks and
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Straight Week of Declines as Global Demand Concerns Weigh. Available at:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/17/oil-steady-ahead-of-data-seen-confirming-
sluggish-china-growth.html.
Cordesman, A. H. & Kendall, J. (2016). Estimates of Chinese Military
Spending. Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS).
Day, M. A. (2016). The Hope and Vision of j Robert Oppenheimer. Singapore:
World Scientific Publishing Co.
Fulton, J. (2019). China’s Changing role in the Middle East. Washington D. C.:
Atlantic Council.
Ghasemi, F. (2012). Introduction to International Relations. Tehran: Mizan (in
Persian).
Gilpin, R. G. (1986). The Richness of the Tradition of Political Realism. In:
R. O. Keohane. Neo-Realism and its Critics, New York: Columbia University
Press.
Glaser, B. S.; Funaiole, M. P. & Hart, B. (2020). Breaking
Down China’s 2020 Defense Budget. Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), (02/10/2020) Available at: https://
w w w. c s i s . o r g / a n a l y s i s / b r e a k i n g - d o w n - c h i n a s - 2 0 2 0 - d e f e n s e -
budget#:~:text=Chinese%20officials%20revealed%20on%20Friday,
7.2%20percent%20and%208.1%20percent.
Gowan, R. (2020). China’s Pragmatic Approach to UN Peacekeeping.
brookings (03/10/2020), Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/chinas-pragmatic-approach-to-un-peacekeeping.
Griffiths, M. (1992). Realism, Idealism and International Politics: A
Reinterpretation. London & New York: Routledge.
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U.S. Arms Sales. Washington D. C.: Center for International Policy.
Heywood, A. (2010). Politics. Translated by: Abdol Rahman Alam, Tehran:
Ney [in Persian].
Hongtu, Z. (2010). China's Energy Interests and Security in the Middle East.
In: China's Growing Role in the Middle East: Implications for the Region and
Beyond (43-59). Geoffrey Kemp & Abdulaziz Sager, Washington DC: The
Nixon Center.
Huaxia (2020). Chinese Peacekeepers to Lebanon Participate in UN Cleanup,
Reconstruction Mission after Beirut's Blasts. Xinhuanet (29/09/2020) Available
at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-09/27/c_139401547.htm.
Jingchao, L. (2015). The Overseas Security Contractors from the Private
Companies: Chinese Body-Guards Abroad. Southern Weekly (04/10/2020)
Available at: http://www.infzm.com/content/108890.
Kay, S. (2012). Global Security in the Twenty-First Century: The Quest for
Power and the Search for Peace. UK: Rowan and Littlefield.
Kemp, G. (2010). The East Moves to West: India, China and Asia's Growing
Presence in the Middle East. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Keohane, R. O. (1986). Theory of World Politics: Structural Realism and
Beyond. In: R. O. Keohane, Neo-realism and its critics, New York: Columbia
University Press.
Leung, G. C.K.; Li, R. & Low, M. (2011). Transitions in China's Oil Economy,
1990-2010. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 52(4), 483–500.
Leverett, F., & Bader, J. (2005). Managing China - U.S. Energy Competition in
the Middle East. The Washington Quarterly, 1(29).
Liao, J. X. (2015). China’s Energy Diplomacy Towards the Middle East. In:
The Emerging Middle East–East Asia Nexus. Anoushiravan Ehteshami &
Yukiko Miyagi, London: Routledge, 94-109.
Lin, C. (2011). The New Silk Road: China’s Energy Strategy in the Greater
Middle East. Washington DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Lindemann, B. A. (2014). Cross-Strait Relations and International
Organizations: Taiwan’s Participation in IGOs in the Context of its Relationship
with China. New York: Springer VS.
Liping, G. (2015). China completes evacuation from Yemen, assisting 279 foreigners. Xinhua, (04/10/2020). Available at: http://www.ecns.cn/2015/04-
07/160875.shtml.
Maha S. K. (2018): China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Implications for the
Middle East. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 31(1), 76-95.
Mearsheimer, J. J. (2001). The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York:
Norton.
Mearsheimer, J. J. (2005). Realism is Right. National Interest, No. 81.
Melvin, N. (2019). The Foreign Military Presence in the Horn of Africa Region.
Sweden: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Minnie C. (2019). Chinese Navy Set to Build Fourth Aircraft Carrier, but Plans for
a More Advanced Ship are Put on Hold. South China Morning Post, (03/10/2020)
Available at: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3039653/
chinese-navy-set-build-fourth-aircraft-carrier-plans-more.
Mroue, B. (2020). Lebanon looks to China as us, Arabs Refuse to Help in Crisis:
Struggling with an Economic Catastrophe, Lebanon is the Latest Country to
be Caught up US-China Tensions. The Diplomat (01/10/2020) Available at:
https://thediplomat.com/2020/07/lebanon-looks-to-china-as-us-arabs-refuse-
to-help-in-crisis/.
Mushirzadeh, H. (2014). Evolution in theories of international relations, Ninth
Edition, Tehran: Samat. (in Persian).
Minlu Zhang (2022). "China pays all current UN peacekeeping assessments",
China Daily (02/10/2023), at:https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202211/24/
WS637e5ad3a31049175432b808.html
National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC) (2020). National Data. Available
at: http://data.stats.gov.cn/english/index.htm.
Neill, A. (2014). China and Middle East. Adelphi Series, Vol.54, 205-211.
Orban, A. (2008). Power, Energy, and the New Russian Imperialism. London:
Praeger Security International.
People's Daily Online (2015). "Navy Ships Evacuated the First Batch of Chinese
Citizens from Yemen, Including two Foreign Experts (03/10/2020). Available
at: http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0330/c1011-26773086.html.
Rolland, N. (2017). China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”: Underwhelming or
Game-Changer?. The Washington Quarterly, 40(1), 127–142.
Salami Zavareh, M. & Fallahi Barzoki, M. (2018). China’s Energy Security:
Iran and Saudi Arabia’s Role in China’s Energy Diplomacy. Iran Economic
Review, 22(3), 709-721.
Scobell, A. (2018). Why the Middle East Matters to China. In: China's Presence n the Middle East: The Implications of the One Belt, One Road Initiative,
Ehteshami, A., & Horesh, N, London: Routledge, 9-23.
Shaio H. Z. (2014). China’s Libya Evacuation Operation: A New Diplomatic
Imperative—Overseas Citizen Protection. Journal of Contemporary China,
23(90), 1093-1112.
Stlhane Hiim, H. & Stenslie, S. (2019). China's Realism in the Middle East.
Survival, 61(6), 153-166.
The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China
(SCIO PRC) (2019). China’s National Defense in the New Era, China: Foreign
Languages Press Co.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2020). Oil and Petroleum
Products Explained: Oil Imports and Exports (07/10/2020). Available at:
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/imports-
and-exports.php.
Vasquez, P. I. (2019). China’s Oil and Gas Footprint in Latin America and
Africa. International Development Policy, 11(1), 1-29.
Vidal, A. (2020). Beijing’s Game in a New Middle East. The Sigma Iota Rho
(SIR) Journal of International Relations (04/10/2020). Available at: http://
www.sirjournal.org/op-ed/2020/2/24/beijings-game-in-a-new-middle-east.
Walt, S. (2017). Realism and Security. Oxford Research
Encyclopedia of International Studies, (03/04/2020),
Available at: https://oxfordre.com/internationalstudies/
v i e w / 1 0 . 1 0 9 3 / a c r e f o r e / 9 7 8 0 1 9 0 8 4 6 6 2 6 . 0 0 1 . 0 0 0 1 / a c r e f o r e -
9780190846626-e-286.
Waltz, K. N. (1964). Man. the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis. New
York: Columbia University Press.
Waltz, K. N. (1975) Theory of International Relations. In: The handbook of
political science, Fred Greenstein & Nelson Polsby, Mass: Addison-Wesley.
Waltz, K. N. (1979). Theory of International Politics. Mass: Addison-Wesley.
Waltz, K. N. (1988). The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory. Journal of
Interdisciplinary History, 18(4).
Wohlforth, W. (2008). Realism. In: The Oxford Handbook of International
Relations, Reus-Smit, C., Snidal, D. Oxford University Press. 131-149.
Xinhua (2017). Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous
Society in all Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with
Chinese Characteristics for a New Era (20/09/2020). available at: http://
www.xinhuanet.com/english/download/Xi_Jinping's_report_at_19th_CPC_National_Congress.pdf.
Yellinek, R. (2020). China and the rebuilding of Syria. Opinion (25/09/2020)
Available at: https://www.e-ir.info/2020/03/23/opinion-china-and-the-
rebuilding-of-syria.
Yinglun, S. (2019). China Vows to Continue Support for Lebanon’s Military,
Xinhuanet (04/10/2020) Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-
03/05/c_137868900.htm.
Yutong, L. (2020). Chinese Oil Production Grows for First Time in Four Years.
(07/12/2020) Available at: https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-01-17/chinese-
oil-production-grows-for-first-time-in-four-years-101505469.html.
Zhang, Z. & Xing, W. (2018). Overseas Oil Cooperation Between China and
India Based on Crude Oil Trade Flow Analysis. IOP Conference Series: Earth
and Environmental Science, 153, doi:10.1088/1755-1315/153/3/032046.
)
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