Seek Knowledge Even If It Takes You to China (Via Washington)Saudi Arabia and China in the Twenty-First Century

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 166-188
Author(s):  
Sean Foley

For much of the last twenty years, China’s ties with Saudi Arabia have been understood in commercial terms, with most scholars arguing that the relationship has little cultural or historical depth. Drawing on multiple trips to China between 2011 and 2015 along with a ten-month period living continuously in Saudi Arabia in 2013 and 2014, this paper argues that there are factors other than economics that should be considered: namely, historical ties dating back to the seventh century, Saudi cultural and geo-strategic linkages to the United States, and the new economic and political geography of Eurasia. While cultural and strategic factors have limited the growth of Saudi-Sino ties since the start of the Arab Spring, they are likely to be the factors that allow for the two sides to realize the potential of their bilateral relationship in the future—even while retaining their close current alliances with other great powers.

Author(s):  
Hossein Taghdar ◽  
Zaid Ahmad ◽  
Abdolreza Alami

Egypt has experienced drastic changes in government recently. Studying these changes can lead to more understanding of the revolutions caused by the Arab Spring in other countries and can also explain the hegemonic conduct of the United States. This qualitative study was conducted through 1) reviewing scholarly published documents and other relevant official news resources that were published on the relationship between Egypt and the United States after the 2011 revolution, and 2) interviewing 12 key informants (ethnic, academic, and administrative elites). Qualitative content analysis was the main approach to data analysis. The results with a focus on both Obama’s administration and Trumps’ administration revealed that Egypt and the United States relations were affected due to Egypt’s anti-western agenda. Later, the United States’ main strategies in maintaining its hegemony in Egypt were discussed. Among these factors, 1) the United States’ aid policy, 2) the United States’ tolerance policy, 3) aborting FJP, 4) imposing the western culture, and 4) the United States’ support of street protests can be mentioned. Areas for further research are discussed at the end of the study.


2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-161
Author(s):  
G. G. Kosach

The paper examines the evolution of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy in the context of wider changes in the Middle East and in the Arab world triggered by the Arab Spring. The author argues that during this decade the Kingdom’s foreign policy has witnessed a fundamental transformation: the very essence of the Saudi foreign policy course has changed signifi cantly as the political es-tablishment has substantially revised its approaches to the country’s role in the region and in the world. Before 2011, Saudi Arabia — the land of the ‘Two Holy Mosques’ — positioned itself as a representative of the international Muslim community and in pursuing its foreign policy relied primarily on the religious authority and fi nancial capabilities. However, according to Saudi Arabia’s leaders, the Arab Spring has plunged the region into chaos and has bolstered the infl uence of various extremist groups and movements, which required a signifi cant adjustment of traditional political approaches. Saudi Arabia, more explicit than ever before, has declared itself as a nation state, as a regional leader possessing its own interests beyond the abstract ‘Muslim Ummah’. However, the author stresses that these new political ambitions do not imply a complete break with the previous practice. For example, the containment of Iran not only remains the cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy, but has become even more severe. The paper shows that it is this opposition to Iran, which is now justifi ed on the basis of protecting the national interests, that predetermines the nature and the specifi c content of contemporary Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy including interaction with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), approaches towards the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict, combating terrorism, and relations with the United States. In that regard, the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy has, on the one hand, opened up new opportunities for strengthening the Kingdom’s interaction with Israel, but, at the same time, has increased tensions within the framework of strategic partnership with the United States. The author concludes that currently Saudi Arabia is facing a challenge of diversifying its foreign policy in order to increase its international profi le and political subjectivity.


2003 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 523-525
Author(s):  
Bruce J. Dickson

This useful textbook provides an overview of US–China relations between the late 19th century and the beginning of the 21st. It gives a clear chronology of events and covers the main events and issues in the relationship. It also embeds the description of these events and issues in the larger international and domestic contexts, allowing it to mesh easily with other textbooks that focus either on China's foreign relations in general or on its domestic developments.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Richard W. Bulliet

The causes and processes of the Arab Spring movements are less important for current political developments than the responses to those movements by states that were not directly involved. After discussing the Turkish, Israeli, Iranian, and American responses, the focus turns to the recently announced military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Did the Saudi government conspire with the Egyptian high command to plot the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Cairo? If so, as seems likely, was the United States aware of the conspiracy? More importantly, what does the linkage between the Egyptian army and Saudi and Gulf financial support for President al-Sisi's regime suggest for the future of stability and legitimate rule in the Arab world?


Author(s):  
Christopher Preble ◽  
William Ruger

This chapter uses a quote by Barack Obama to outline how foreign relations in the twenty-first century, especially for great powers such as the United States, should be handled with deftness, caution, and prudence. It emphasizes the idea that people often take action without knowing the consequences. The authors highlight the need for wisdom, patience, and restraint in important political situations and argue that Obama’s diplomatic approach provides a good model when considering a new strategy to replace approaches that have proved ineffective, counterproductive, or disruptive to what remains of the international order Woodrow Wilson helped forge.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. e59430
Author(s):  
Bruno Hendler ◽  
Felipe Porta

O presente artigo busca analisar quais foram os graus de mudança percebidos na política externa da Arábia Saudita nas suas relações com China e Estados Unidos. Para a realização desta análise, utilizamos os conceitos cunhados por Charles Hermann (1990), que explicam as alterações em política externa de um país a partir de quatro graus de mudança e quatro fontes geradoras destas mudanças. Não obstante, a utilização de livros, artigos, notícias e documentos oficiais dos governos foram essenciais para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho. Assim, argumentamos que há um gradual deslocamento dos Estados Unidos para a China como parceiro prioritário do referido país a partir de 2010, tendência esta acelerada pelos choques externos, como a Primavera Árabe, a queda nos preços internacionais do petróleo e o afastamento dos Estados Unidos do Oriente Médio, e pela ascensão de Mohammed bin Salman ao poder executivo do Reino. Tal deslocamento está associado ao aumento na intensidade e à alteração dos meios pelos quais o país se relaciona com a China. Entretanto, reforçamos que esta tendência não significa um abandono, pela Arábia Saudita, de sua histórica relação com os Estados Unidos.Palavras-chave: Arábia Saudita; Política Externa; Hermann.ABSTRACTThe aim of this research is to analyze the levels of changes identified in Saudi Arabia's foreign policy in its relations with China and the United States. To carry out this analysis, we used the concepts formulated by Charles Hermann (1990) about levels and sources of change in a country's foreign policy. Nevertheless, the use of books, articles, news and official government documents were essential for the development of this article. Hence, we argue that there is a gradual shift from the United States to China as a priority partner of Saudi Arabia since 2010, a trend that has been accelerated by external shocks from the International System, such as the Arab Spring, the fall of the international oil prices and the United States withdraw from the Middle East politics and by the rise of Mohammed bin Salman to the executive power. Such a shift is associated with an increase in intensity and a change in the means by which the country relates to China. Notwithstanding, this trend does not mean that Saudi Arabia abandoned its historic relationship with the United States. Keywords: Saudi Arabia; Foreign Policy; Hermann. Recebido em: 28 abr. 2021 | Aceito em: 30 set. 2021.


Author(s):  
Christopher J. Fettweis

Security is relative. No state is ever fully safe, just as no individual is ever completely free from danger. However, when U.S. security is considered next to that of any other state, it is hard to reach the conclusion that Washington faces much serious danger. The United States is simultaneously the safest and most fearful of all the great powers of the twenty-first century. This chapter discusses some of the structural and psychological factors that led to the overestimation of danger so common among U.S. analysts and policymakers. Why is it that many serious observers continue to believe that the current era is so dangerous, and even look to the past with a sense of nostalgia? Why do we fear so much?


2021 ◽  
pp. 3-28
Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Stoner

Russia has developed outsized influence in international politics in the twenty-first century, although on paper it does not have the traditional means of power that the United States or China does, for example. Yet, if we look beyond traditional realist measures of power in international relations of human capital, size of the military, and economic means, to also include the relative scope and weight of Russian influence in key policy areas, as well as assessing its geographic domain of influence under Vladimir Putin, Russia is not as weak relative to other great powers as it might at first appear. Under Putin’s autocracy, his regime has also become more willing to project power abroad in order to maintain domestic stability.


Plant Disease ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (12) ◽  
pp. 2411-2420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalina Salgado-Salazar ◽  
Nicholas LeBlanc ◽  
Adnan Ismaiel ◽  
Yazmín Rivera ◽  
Colleen Y. Warfield ◽  
...  

Impatiens downy mildew (IDM) of cultivated Impatiens walleriana has had a significant economic impact on the ornamental horticulture industry in the United States and globally. Although recent IDM outbreaks started in 2003, downy mildews on noncultivated Impatiens species have been documented since the 1880s. To understand the relationship between the pathogen causing recent epidemics and the pathogen historically present in the United States, this work characterized genetic variation among a collection of 1,000 samples on 18 plant hosts. Samples included collections during recent IDM epidemics and historical herbarium specimens. Ten major genotypes were identified from cloned rDNA amplicon sequencing and endpoint SNP genotyping. Three genotypes accounted for >95% of the samples, with only one of these three genotypes found on samples predating recent IDM outbreaks. Based on phylogenetic analysis integrating data from three markers and the presence of individual genotypes on multiple Impatiens species, there was some evidence of pathogen-specific infection of I. noli-tangere, but the distinction between genotypes infecting I. walleriana and I. balsamina was not upheld. Overall, this work provides evidence that the majority of rDNA genotypes recovered from recent IDM epidemics are different from historical U.S. genotypes, and that these genotypes can infect Impatiens spp. other than I. walleriana.


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