Abstracts

03TheDiplomaticConceptoftheCommunistPartyofChinaSincethe18thNationalCongressandItsPracticeintheMiddleEast

AbstractOn the basis of clarifying the relationship between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China’s diplomacy, this paper analyzes the practice of a set of diplomatic ideas put forward by China since the 18th CPC National Congress in the Middle East and their impact on China’s regional relations. This paper holds that security and development are the two major problems facing the Middle East. Troubled by traditional security issues and geopolitical conflicts, the development of the Middle East has been covered up and ignored for a long time. Underdevelopment and lack of cooperation among regional countries in turn aggravate the security dilemma. In view of this, the international community and regional countries should focus more attention and actions on the governance and development of the Middle East, which is the most effective way to eliminate the Middle East security dilemma. The concept of governance and development proposed by China is in line with the actual development and practical needs of Middle East countries. In recent years, China’s diplomatic practice around these ideas has achieved fruitful results, which has laid a solid foundation for the development of sustainable cooperative relations between China and Middle East countries. In the future, promoting peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and achieving long-term regional stability will become the highlight and focus of China’s Middle East diplomacy.

KeyWordsThe Communist Party of China; Diplomatic Concept; Middle East; Diplomatic Practice

AuthorLI Weijian, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Institute for Foreign Policy Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

15AnAnalysisoftheTrumpAdministration’s“IsraelFirst”MiddleEastPolicy

AbstractDuring Donald Trump’s presidency, the basic strategies of preceding American presidents had been changed under the influence of various factors. The Trump administration implemented a series of “Israel First” policies in the Middle East, which mainly includes four aspects: continuing to create internal strife in the Syrian Civil War to help Israel “fight against enemies outside its own country”; containing Iran in a comprehensive way to alleviate Israel’s security threats; acknowledging Israel’s sovereignty over disputed territories to meet the expansionary requirements of Israel, and smoothing ties between Israel and Arab countries to build diplomatic and secure environment for Israel. The Trump administration’s Middle East policy that centered on safeguarding the interests of Israel had accelerated the realization of Israel’s political goals to a large extent. It provided important political resources for Israel, but also laid major hidden dangers to the development of the security situation in the Middle East.

KeyWordsUnited States; Israel; Middle East Policy

AuthorWANG Bo, Ph.D., Professor, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University (Shanghai 200083); WU Rui, Ph.D. candidate, School of International Relations and Public Affairs & Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University (Shanghai 200083).

32‘ArabSpring’andRussianDiplomaticStrategiesTowardstheMiddleEast

AbstractRussia’s Middle East strategy inherits the Middle East strategies of the Soviet Union, and on this basis exerts its influence on Middle East countries through bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, economic and trade relations, and the export of cultural soft power. After the outbreak of the “Arab Spring”, Russia’s interests in the Middle East have been impacted, mainly by the weakening of bilateral relations between Russia and Middle East countries, the damage of economic and trade relations with regional countries, and the growth of anti-Russian sentiment in the Middle East. On the one hand, Russia made use of the impact of the “Arab Spring” on geopolitics to timely adjust its Middle East diplomatic strategies and enhance the importance of the Middle East region in Russia’s overall diplomatic strategy. On the other hand, taking advantage of the changes in the international system in the Middle East caused by the “Arab Spring” and the adjustment of foreign policies of outside powers in the Middle East, Russia reconstructs its political and economic relations with Middle East countries, and, it puts forward an overall regional strategy for the Middle East on the basis of restoring bilateral relations.

KeyWords‘Arab Spring’; Russia; Diplomatic strategies on the Middle East

AuthorMENG Jun, Ph.D., Professor, College of Law and History, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities

50TheEvolutionandProspectofChina’sTourismDiplomacyTowardsArabCountries

AbstractIn 2015, China puts forward the concept of “tourism diplomacy” for the first time. Since then it has become an important part of China’s overall diplomacy in the new era. China’s tourism diplomacy towards Arabic countries has experienced a process of constantly enriching in practice and deepening in understanding: the form of tourism diplomacy has gradually expanded from official pilgrimage activities in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China to various official or semi-official activities aimed at promoting bilateral tourism passenger flow, and the practice subject has expanded from the country to local governments, enterprises, trade associations and even tourism individuals at all levels, so as to enhance the understanding of tourism from the beginning as a simple diplomatic tool, to focus on its industrial and economic functions, and then to recognize its special diplomatic functions. At present, there are still some problems in China’s tourism diplomacy towards Arabic countries, such as the lack of strategic planning, imperfect cooperation mechanism and insufficient tourist flow. In view of the above problems, we should further strengthen the top-level design and mechanism construction of China’s tourism diplomacy towards Arabic countries in the future, continue to promote the growth of bilateral tourist flow, give full play to the leading role and siphon effect of tourism industry, and pay attention to and prevent the possible negative factors in tourism diplomacy, so as to make China’s Arab tourism diplomacy go deeper and more practical.

KeyWordsChina; Arab countries; Tourism diplomacy; “Belt and Road” Initiative

AuthorsCAO Xiaoxiao, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Zhejiang International Studies University; Aml Ali ABDRABOU, Ph.D, Product operation manager at Beeto Arabia Company

68TheMissionaryActivitiesofAmericanMissionariesintheOttomanEmpireandItsInfluences

AbstractIn the early 19th century, ABCFM was founded under the influence of the Second Great Protestant Awakening. As one of its primary mission destinations, the Ottoman Empire was of great significance to the development of American missions abroad. As the pioneer of American colonial expansion, the interaction between American missionaries and the Ottoman Empire is a microcosm of the interaction between Christianity and Islam in history, which represents the collision of civilizations between “Christian America” and “the last Muslim Empire”. In the interaction with the Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Empire, the American missionaries always aimed to achieve the maximum spread of Protestantism in the Ottoman Empire, and under the religious care, they concealed the essence of seeking their own national interests. American missionary activities had a certain influence on the Ottoman Empire, which not only promoted the development of education and women’s cause, but also indirectly contributed to the rise of the nationalist movement within the empire and laid a hidden danger for the disintegration of the empire.

KeyWordsAmerican Missionaries; Ottoman Empire; Christianity; Islam; Conflict and Integration

AuthorsJIANG Zhen, Ph.D., Professor, Institute of Middle East Studies, Northwest University; LI Xiaojuan, Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Middle East Studies, Northwest University.

90OntheMotivations,ProblemsandInfluencesoftheCurrentNaturalGasCooperationBetweenIsraelandEgypt

AbstractNatural gas cooperation is an important area of cooperation between Egypt and Israel. Egypt began to send natural gas to Israel in 2008, but was suspended due to political changes in Egypt. As great breakthroughs were made in natural gas exploration and extraction, Israel has changed from an energy-deficient country to an exporter of natural gas. In the meantime, Egypt suffered a natural gas shortage due to the rapid increase in demand, inadequate exploration and decline of production. The role of Israel and Egypt in the field of natural gas cooperation has reversed and changed to Israel’s supply of gas to Egypt. This has made the two countries readjust their strategic expectations for cooperation. Israel hopes to improve its political status and gain economic interests while Egypt wants to build itself into an energy hub via the self-produced and imported natural gas and thus extends its political influence. In this background, Israel and Egypt have realized the division and coordination of natural gas production and trade, and have moved towards European and international natural gas markets.. Although their cooperation is facing challenges posed by regional instability, commercial risks and Egypt’s anti-Israeli sentiment, through natural gas cooperation, Israel and Egypt have deepened economic ties, consolidated political relations, increased their regional and global influence, and will exert an influence on the stability and political landscape of the Middle East.

KeyWordsEgypt-Israel Relations; Cooperation on Natural Gas; Economic Interests; Security Risk; Geopolitics

AuthorsYANG Yongping, Ph.D., Professor, College of History, Culture and Tourism, Guangxi Normal University; YANG Jiaqi, Master Candidate, School of Politics and International Studies, Central China Normal University.

113StrategicChoicesforGulfOil-ProducingCountriesUnderGreatChangesinGlobalEnergySystem

AbstractCurrently, energy issues are highly integrated with climate change issues, and the global energy system is undergoing a structural transformation. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has gravely wounded the world economy, exacerbating the uncertainty of the energy transition and the impact of the imbalance between oil supply and demand, the world energy outlook faces substantial change. In this context, the Gulf states, that heavily dependent on oil revenues, urgently need to seek adaptive strategy to address economic dilemma. Relief measures such as fiscal austerity policies and joint production cuts by oil exporting countries can alleviate fiscal pressure to some extent. However, to achieve economic independence and sustainable development, it is necessary to accelerate the economic restructuring. In the long run, economic diversification should still be the strategic direction for Gulf oil-producing countries. Furthermore, attaching importance to the strategic role of the oil industry during the transition and taking circular carbon economy as the cornerstone of the leapfrog development of economic diversification, remains a huge strategic opportunity for Gulf oil-producing countries to achieve sound economic development.

KeyWordsEnergy Transition; Oil Demand；Gulf States; Strategic Selection

AuthorsTIAN Ranran, Ph.D. Candidate, University of International Business and Economic；YANG Yanhong, Professor, School of Foreign Studies, University of International Business and Economics.

133SaudiArabia’sSocio-economicTransformationintheContextofCOVID-19Pandemic:ChallengesandCountermeasures

AbstractThe Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the socio-economic reform in Saudi Arabia. On the one hand, the country’s oil revenue fell sharply and its fiscal deficit intensified because of the plunge in global energy demand, the delay in production reduction and thus decline in oil prices. On the other hand, as international travelling being suspended, the country’s tourism suffered badly and related income had plummeted. Also the labor force market faced high pressure as the unemployment rate rose. Saudi Arabia took strict and effective precaution and controlling measures at the start of the outbreak, and has successfully put a stop to large-scale spread of the epidemic. Meanwhile, the government strengthened domestic financial assistance through economic relief measures, and actively eased regional tensions while promoting regional and international prevention cooperation with a positive attitude. Since the fourth quarter of 2020, situation gradually stabilized, the economy began to recover. The pandemic has brought Saudi Arabia’s real economy to a standstill, but it has also accelerated the country’s digital transformation. The Digital Economy Policy and the National Strategy for Data & AI launched by Saudi Arabia have made some progress, which has made clear the direction and goals of future socio-economic transformation.

KeyWordsCOVID-19 Pandemic; Saudi Arabia; Oil Economy; Digital Economy

AuthorPAN Xiaohan, Ph.D., Researcher, Postdoctoral Mobile Station for Foreign Languages and Literatures, Department of Arabic, Shanghai International Studies University.