Routledge Handbook on China–Middle East Relations

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 2 China and the Middle East: An autobiographical perspective 3 The Middle East in China’s global strategies 4 China in Middle Eastern strategic thinking 5 Strategic convergence or strategic rivalry? China and America in the Middle East PART II Relations among regions and states 6 China and the Gulf region: From strangers to partners 7 China and the Levant: Unlike any other world power 8 China and North Africa: History, economic engagement and soft power 9 China– Egypt relations during the BRI era and beyond 10 China and Saudi Arabia: From enmity to strategic hedging 11 Turkey’s relations with China and the Belt and Road Initiative 12 China–Iran relations: A low- quality comprehensive strategic partnership 13 Israel and China: Past distance, present cooperation, uncertain future 14 Frozen in time: China–Algeria relations from socialist friendship to pandemic opportunism 15 Sino-Omani relations PART III Trade and development 16 China’s evolving energy relations with the Middle East 17 China’s approach to post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle East 18 China’s nascent soft power projection in the Middle East and North Africa: Cultural, educational, and media initiatives 19 Technological dimensions of China–MENA economic relations PART IV International relations, security, and diplomacy 20 China’s partnership diplomacy in the Middle East 21 Chinese private security companies in the Middle East 22 Community- building and social engagement: The overseas Chinese community in the United Arab Emirates 23 The China model and the Middle East 24 A tough job: Chinese diplomats in the Middle East and North Africa 25 China and the Palestinian–Israeli conflict 26 Chinese diplomatic outreach to MENA: Cooperation forums and special envoys Index

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.