scholarly journals China’s Relations with the Mediterranean States: Military and Political Aspects

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 700-711
Author(s):  
Olga A. Timakova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
The Mediterranean

China is one of the most influential non-regional actors in the Mediterranean. As of 2021, it is ranked among the top three trading partners of almost all Mediterranean states. Chinese foreign policy in the Mediterranean reflects the growing importance of geoeconomics and, in particular, economic instruments of foreign policy in Chinas foreign policy strategy. The intersection of the routes of the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century and the Silk Road Economic Belt in the Mediterranean basin indicates the regions high potential for the development of new logistics routes, economic corridors and supply chains. Despite significant impact of the coronavirus restrictions on the global economy and the deepest economic crisis seen in recent years, China has not reduced its global activity. Actually, it is the pandemic that can become an incentive for the development of new formats of cooperation within the Belt and Road in the Mediterranean. Chinas traditional foreign policy paradigm presupposes emphasis exclusively on economic interaction and non-involvement in political issues. De facto Chinas economic relations with the countries of the region are increasingly complicated by military and political issues. The article categorizes the main political and security issues that arise between China and partner countries in the Mediterranean region. While the discourse of human rights and sustainable development prevails in relations with Europe, the issues of ensuring security and managing regional instability come to the fore when dealing with the states of North Africa and the Middle East. Given Chinas growing economic needs, it is likely that in the medium term there will be a doctrinal formalization of Chinas role in the political process in the Mediterranean region.

scholarly journals Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Blues: Powering BRI Research Back on Track to Avoid Choppy Seas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc F. Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The Road ◽  
Political Costs ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
On The Road

AbstractThis piece examines and critiques the massive literature on China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It details how research currently seems stuck on the road to nowhere. In addition, it identifies a number of the potholes that collective research endeavors are hitting such as that they are poorly synchronized. It also stresses that lines of analysis are proliferating rather than optimizing, with studies broadening in thematic coverage, rather than becoming deeper. It points out that BRI participants are regularly related to the role of a bit player in many analyses and research often is disconnected from other literatures. Among other things, this article recommends analysts focus on the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) or Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) in specific regions or countries. It also argues for a research core that focuses on the implementation issue (i.e., the issue of MSRI and SREB project implementation), project effects (i.e., the economic and political costs and benefits of projects), and the translation issue (i.e., the domestic and foreign policy effects of projects) and does work that goes beyond the usual suspects. On a related note, research need to identify, more precisely, participants and projects, undertake causal analysis, and take into account countervailing factors. Furthermore, studies need to make more extensive use of the Chinese foreign policy literature. Moreover, works examining subjects like soft power need to improve variable conceptualization and operationalization and deliver more nuanced analyses. Finally, studies, especially by area specialists, should take the area, not the China, perspective.

The Influence of Personal Factor on US Foreign Policy (Secretary of State John Kerry)

2014 ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
A. Borisova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Secretary Of State ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa

The last five years defined an alternative course in the US foreign policy. Obama's reelection caused staff transfers which notably influenced the course. This comprehensive process is based on tremendous work conducted by the Administration of Barak Obama, in particular by John Kerry, who was appointed as a Secretary of State in 2013. His personality plays a significant role in American domestic and foreign policy interrelation. Adoption or rejection of the bills, which are well-known today, depended in large on a range of circumstances, such as personality, life journey and political leader career of the today's Secretary of State. John Kerry’s professional life is mainly associated with domestic policy; nevertheless, he has always been interested in foreign relations and national security issues. Those concerns generally included: non-proliferation, US security, ecological problems, fight against terrorism. The article is intended to highlight Kerry’s efforts in each of these fields, showing not only his actions, but also difficult process of adoption or banning bills in the USA. The author tried to display the whole complicated decision-making process among different parties, businessmen and politicians, law and money clashes. The results of many former endeavors can be seen today, in the modern US policy. Based on assumptions about Secretary of State’s beliefs, certain road map can be predicted. In conclusion, the article offers several courses, where the United States are likely to be most active during the next few years. It can be judged exactly which way some current political issues will develop, how the US foreign policy will be shaped by today's decision-makers in the White House.

scholarly journals US–Kenya Economic Relations under Obama and Their Image in the Kenyan News Discourse

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-99
Author(s):  
Vilém Řehák
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
The Us ◽  
Trade And Investment

Abstract Economic cooperation between the US and Kenya has reflected the ups and downs in the relations between the two countries. Since independence, both countries have converged on security issues and diverged on questions of democracy and human rights. When Barack Obama was elected as the President of the US, Kenya expected to get an “Obama bonus” in the form of closer trade and investment cooperation. This article analyzes what is the image of US–Kenya economic relations in the news discourse. The analysis reveals that three different and competing narratives are present in the news discourse in Kenya. The US disseminates a narrative that economy, security, good governance and human resources are four interconnected and mutually reinforcing pillars of African development; Kenya must make progress in all these four pillars, and the US is ready to help Kenya. Kenyan leaders seem to internalize the economic part of the narrative and accept the nexus between economy and security, but they reject the nexus between economy and political issues. Finally, the Kenyan society internalizes both these narratives, albeit to a different degree, with the latter prevailing over the former. However, it also produces its own narrative, which presents current US–Kenya economic relations in a different perspective. The whole US engagement in Kenya hardly goes beyond the symbolical level. It is driven by US economic interests and competition with China, while there is no “Obama bonus” for Kenya.

Impact of Turmoil and Gas Resources in the Eastern Mediterranean on Jordanian Energy Security and Foreign Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Summer 2020) ◽  
pp. 237-255
Author(s):  
Ahmad Alshwawra ◽  
Ahmad Almuhtady
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Energy Security ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Security Framework ◽  
International Context ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

The Mediterranean region has witnessed a lot of turbulence in the last decade. On the one hand, the Arab uprising changed the shape of the regional relations towards more rivalry. On the other hand, the discovery of natural gas resources has opened up a valuable chance for cooperation and settling the long-standing disputes. Jordan is affected by what happens in the Mediterranean region in more than one aspect. The various economic difficulties including energy insecurity, resulting from multiple refugee crises and the interruption of Egyptian gas is one of the most critical challenges Jordan has ever faced. As a heavy energy importer, the Jordanian energy sector is very sensitive to the regional and International context. The recently discovered Eastern Mediterranean gas is an attractive energy resource for Jordan. Nonetheless, a fear of its influence on the Jordanian foreign policy in the Palestinian context has grown. This article discusses the impact of the recent turmoil in the Mediterranean region on Jordan energy security. It tracks the change of energy security in Jordan between 2010 and 2018 using a proposed energy security framework. The article also discusses the potential implications of Jordan’s decision to import the Mediterranean gas through Israel on Jordanian energy security using the proposed energy security framework. Moreover, the article utilizes semi-systematic literature review methodology to analyze international, regional and national contexts in order to investigate the potential ramifications of that decision on Jordanian foreign policy regarding the Palestinian cause.

Russia’s economic soft power: The case of Serbia

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-114
Author(s):  
Sandra Baniak
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Permanent Member

Serbia inherited Yugoslavia’s tendency to pursue its foreign policy in terms of “multi-vector” policy and balancing between the West and the East to achieve its own political goals and maintain the attention of other countries. Despite the desire to join the European Union, as officially declared by the state authorities, Serbia also strives to maintain a “strategic partnership” with Russia. This paper presents Russia’s interests in the policy towards Serbia in the economic sphere over the years, starting from 1999. It points to the complexity of Serbian-Russian economic relations and their relationship with political issues. Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can significantly affect Serbia’s internal and foreign policy, making it dependent on guarding Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and through the lack of recognition of Kosovo’s independence by pursuing its own interests, manifested by an increasing Russian presence in the energy sector.

Belt and Road Initiative alias Chinese Dream: How Are the Cards Dealt for This Game?

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150014
Author(s):  
Michaela Staníčková ◽  
Lenka Fojtíková
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Road Project ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Ancient Silk Road

An old Chinese proverb says, “if you want to be rich, build a path”. The People’s Republic of China (from now on, China) has already verified this proverb’s validity in the old Silk Road. The oldest and most famous trade route in history has managed to help China and the surrounding region reach an imaginary peak in its time. Today, after centuries of unrest, wars, economic decline, and international isolation, China is once again building a path to help it return to the world’s most developed nations, the New Silk Road, respectively the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI has been defined as “the most eye-catching and possibly the one with the longest-term significance” (Ferdinand, 2017) [“Westward Ho — The China Dream and ‘One Belt, One Road’: Chinese Foreign Policy under Xi Jinping,” in Weiqing Song, ed., China’s Relations with Central and Eastern Europe: From “Old Comrades” to New Partners (London: Routledge, 2017), pp. 1–18]. The Silk Road project was introduced in 2013 by the Chinese President Xi Jinping in response to the economic crisis and the subsequent effort to find new markets and trading partners. The BRI restores the idea of the ancient Silk Road. The BRI is thus the result of a changed approach to foreign policy and the idea of opening up China. However, this policy cannot be perceived only as economic cooperation, but a well-thought-out Chinese foreign policy to expand its influence not only in Asia. The Sinocentric view of the world is thus one of the fundamental aspects of Chinese foreign policy formation. What will the country have to deal with in the future and, above all, what can we expect from China? This paper aims to provide insights into the visions proposed by the BRI, i.e. to capture the main milestones in the current development of the BRI, detailed analysis of its nature, and its current situation and implementation.

Diplomacy for Integration: The Economic Aspect of Chinese Foreign Policy

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
WU BAIYI
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Economic Aspect ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Economic Diplomacy ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Way

This chapter provides an overview of China's new economic diplomacy and the interaction between economic and political statecraft under globalization. Although in the past China adopted a ‘politics first’ approach to economic relations, now the economic priorities of China's development take clear precedence. This has three main implications. The first is that, under the ‘going out’ strategy, China has much more in the way of society-society relations than in the past. Second, in geographical terms, China is increasingly focused on regional integration and new forms of developing world cooperation. Third, China's diplomacy is increasingly pluralistic: both meeting obligations under existing rules and regimes but gradually reforming these in its own interests.

The Chinese Government, the Idea of Security, and Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-48
Author(s):  
Andrea Ghiselli
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
National Security ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Chinese Military ◽  
Civilian Leadership

How did the issue of sending the armed forces abroad and the defence of interests overseas enter and evolve in the Chinese foreign policy debate? The analysis in Chapter 1 of the speeches and documents released by the Chinese leaders and government institutions reveals three interconnected and important changes that have happened since the late 1980s. First, from Jiang Zemin’s New Security Concept to Xi Jinping’s Comprehensive National Security, the management of non-traditional security issues has consistently been the main driver behind the expansion of Chinese military activities overseas. Second, non-traditional security issues abroad changed from being seen as diplomatic opportunities to be considered, especially after the evacuation from Libya of almost 36,000 Chinese nationals, as threats to the regime’s legitimacy and China’s national security. Third, as overseas non-traditional security crises started to be perceived as threats, the orders from the civilian leadership to the foreign policy bureaucracy and, especially, the armed forces to prepare to play a larger role in peacetime foreign policy became increasingly urgent and clear.

scholarly journals A Contested Crisis: Policy Narratives and Empirical Evidence on Border Deaths in the Mediterranean

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias Steinhilper ◽  
Rob Gruijters
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Mortality Risks ◽  
Policy Narratives ◽  
Border Policy ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Border Controls ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Descriptive Statistical Analysis

Death and suffering of migrants at Europe's Mediterranean Sea border has become one of the defining moral and political issues of our time. While humanitarian organisations argue that deaths result from Europe's policy of exclusion and closure, those employing a deterrence oriented narrative have argued for even stricter border controls. Perhaps because of its contentious nature, the debate is often devoid of systematic information on the drivers and dynamics of border deaths. This study contributes to our understanding of border deaths in the Mediterranean region in three ways: it describes and evaluates recent data sources on migration and mortality; it provides a descriptive statistical analysis of absolute and relative mortality risks between 2010 and 2016; and it assesses the relationship between European border policy and border deaths. Our findings challenge the dominant deterrence-oriented policy narrative and highlight the failure of European authorities to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

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