Heldagsseminar: Kinas stigende indflydelse i Mellemøsten

And what are the expectations from the Arab Gulf States to China and will China cope with them? Seminar: China and the Challenges in Greater Middle East

TIME: Tuesday, 10 November at 09.00 – 16.00 hours

VENUE: DIIS, Danish Institute for International Studies, Auditorium, Gl. Kalkbrænderi Vej 51A (close to Nordhavn S-station), Østerbro, Copenhagen

And what are the expectations from the Arab Gulf States to China and will China cope with them? Seminar: China and the Challenges in Greater Middle East

TIME: Tuesday, 10 November at 09.00 – 16.00 hours

VENUE: DIIS, Danish Institute for International Studies, Auditorium, Gl. Kalkbrænderi Vej 51A (close to Nordhavn S-station), Østerbro, Copenhagen

The seminar will be conducted in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Please use our online registration form on

https://conferencemanager.events/ChinaandtheChallengesinGreaterMiddleEast/sign-up.html  

And do so no later than Monday, 9 November at 12.00 noon.

Background

Even though the US has provided the security umbrella in the region, its handling of ethnic conflicts and civil wars has irritated members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Political developments, including 9/11 (terrorangrebet i New York) and the Arab Spring, have forced the member states of the GCC to take action to avoid the spread of democratic movements and reforms, while seeking to handle their own affairs without interference from the US, EU and UN.

Problems in GCC–US relations also make GCC states look eastwards for new partners, providing a power vacuum and opportunity for China to edge in.

China has expanding economic involvement in the Gulf, not least in oil: the majority of its oil comes from the Gulf.

Although China is trying to diversify its energy supplies from the Middle East, it will remain dependent on the Gulf for years to come. With expanding trade, investment and contract work in the Gulf, China seeks to protect its assets and citizens there.

It can no longer follow the old diplomatic strategy of keeping a low profile and keeping business and politics separate.

China has learned from crises in Libya and Sudan and changed its policy from non-intervention to active mediation, supporting UN sanctions, contributing to UN peacekeeping missions and securing peacekeeping to protect its oil interests.

Doubts remain both within the GCC and in Chinese policymaking circles as to what extent China should be strategically involved in the Gulf, and China does not seek to challenge or replace the US as the security provider of the Middle East.

However, there is no doubt that active pragmatism has become China’s guiding diplomatic strategy and that we will see more political and strategic activities from China in the region.

China will take a more active role in fighting extremism at home as well as in the Greater Middle East including Afghanistan and Iraq. How will that play out?

Speakers

* N. Janardhan, UAE (Forenede Arabiske Emirater)
* Jiadong Zhang, Fudan University
* Imad Mansour, Qatar University
* Camilla Sørensen, Copenhagen University
* Miwa Hirono, Ritsumeikan University, Japan
* Jonas Parello-Plesner, author of book ‘China’s Strong Arm’
* Marc Lanteigne, Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
* Ding Long, University of International Business and Economics, China
* Luke Patey, Senior Researcher, DIIS, Denmark
* Lars Erslev Andersen, Research coordinator, DIIS, Denmark

Programme

Læs videre på 

http://www.diis.dk/en/event/china-and-the-challenges-in-greater-middle-east

HUSK at du indtil videre kan se hele månedsoversigten over arrangementer på http://u-landsnyt.dk/kalender