Strategic Hedging by Non-Great Powers in the Persian Gulf

Drawing on the literature on strategic hedging and adapting it to China’s use of economic diplomacy in the service of comprehensive national security goals within the regionalised foreign policy approach of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), we examine China’s approach to securing and expanding its interests in the Persian Gulf. To implement the trade and infrastructure connectivity goals of the BRI and to secure the continued flow of diversified energy supplies, China needs to boost relations with both regional powerhouses, Iran and Saudi Arabia, without alienating either of them or the regional hegemon, the United States. The resulting strategy of strategic hedging is based in the Chinese approach to economic diplomacy, which utilises Chinese commercial actors in the service of national strategic objectives. Relations require careful and ongoing management if China is to achieve outcomes which benefit all sides while avoiding becoming entangled in the region’s intractable geopolitical problems.

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The Foreign-Policy Tools of Small Powers: Strategic Hedging in the Persian Gulf

Middle East Policy ◽

10.1111/mepo.12117 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 112-122 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Yoel Guzansky

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Persian Gulf ◽

Policy Tools ◽

The Persian Gulf ◽

Small Powers ◽

Strategic Hedging

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Imperial Crossroads: The Great Powers and the Persian Gulf, edited by Jeffrey R. Macris and Saul Kelly

The International History Review ◽

10.1080/07075332.2015.1021077 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 409-410

Author(s):

Alan P. Dobson

Keyword(s):

Persian Gulf ◽

Great Powers ◽

The Persian Gulf

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The Persian Gulf

World Politics ◽

10.2307/2010346 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 599-614

Author(s):

Shaul Bakhash

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

19Th Century ◽

Persian Gulf ◽

Great Powers ◽

World War ◽

The Persian Gulf ◽

The 19Th Century

The focus and context of the great powers' interest in the Persian Gulf has altered —often subtly, sometimes dramatically —since Britain established its hegemony in the region in the 19th century. Britain engaged in a lucrative trade, but primarily sought to protect imperial communications and the approaches to India. Today, it is oil that gives the region its strategic importance. For a number of years after World War II, Britain remained the paramount power in the area, maintaining maritime peace, handling the external affairs of the Gulf sheikhdoms, mediating local disputes, dominating trade. Since Britain's withdrawal from the Gulf in 1971, the situation has become somewhat more messy.

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