Over the last two decades the relations between the countries of the Gulf and Asia have expanded beyond the economic domain to include political and even security arrangements. While oil and non-oil trade are still the fulcrum of their association, 'strategic' partnerships are fast becoming the norm. The contributors of this book argue that, along with economic diversification, the Gulf countries have also diversified their foreign policies, especially with China, India, Japan and South Korea, among others. Together with Russia, this could eventually alter the current US-centric security paradigm. This opens up the prospect for a 'collective' security architecture in the Gulf, which is key to regional and global stability.
Over the last two decades the relations between the countries of the Gulf and Asia have expanded beyond the economic domain to include political and even security arrangements. While oil and non-oil trade are still the fulcrum of their association, 'strategic' partnerships are fast becoming the norm. The contributors of this book argue that, along with economic diversification, the Gulf countries have also diversified their foreign policies, especially with China, India, Japan and South Korea, among others. Together with Russia, this could eventually alter the current US-centric security parad.
The Gulf Cooperation Council's pivot to Asia began as a slow process of economic integration in the early 2000s but significantly accelerated after the US Shale Revolution, beginning in 2008. As US production increased and imports from foreign oil suppliers declined, many expected the relationships between the US and its GCC partners to similarly decline. The emerging markets of Asia and rising demand from China captured GCC interest. The GCC nations took steps to diversify their markets away from the US. Economic cooperation morphed into budding diplomatic and strategic relationships between the GCC and China. Meanwhile, the US, no longer as reliant on GCC energy, restructured its foreign policy toward the GCC around defense cooperation and human rights. Though US-GCC relationships remained relatively strong, the uprisings of the Arab Spring resulted in mounting US criticism of GCC human rights violations, weakening US leverage in the region. The Chinese took advantage of US-GCC tension, offering an alternative model of diplomatic engagement-- ignoring human rights. Arab populations saw the economic rise of China as an alternative diplomatic model, one that prioritized economic development without attaching political strings to bilateral relationships. Some GCC nations also viewed Chinese influence as a potential foil to US influence in the region. Despite budding local support for stronger ties with China, the Chinese are not able to displace US influence in the Gulf yet because China is unable to provide the quality or quantity of defense sales and cooperation the US provides. In the long-term, though, Chinese policies will likely present a challenge to US influence in the Gulf. The US should reexamine its policies on human rights promotion and reevaluate its strategic interests to protect the short and long term interests of the US in a region of great geostrategic importance.
A perfect storm of economic, diplomatic, and cultural concerns have brought about the Asianization of Asia, uniting the continent's many countries under a dominant framework of interests and trends. Pushing Asia's domain even further is a new and abiding relationship between Asia's three most industrialized economies and the Persian Gulf's six monoarchies. What began as a basic, twentieth-century marriage of convenience, founded on the trading of hydrocarbon, has now evolved into a complex, long-term commitment guaranteeing continuous exchange of resources and need. This bond has also strengthened the non-hydrocarbon, bilateral trade that facilitates wealth investments on both sides, building lucrative opportunities for Pacific-Asian contruction and, in China's case, its vast forces of labor. Christopher Davidson, an acclaimed expert on the Middle East's rapidly changing economy, details the eastern and western factors that have brought Asia and the Gulf closer together. Athough this relationship has yet to include military arrangements, evidence suggests that the two regions have bolstered other noneconomic ties.Davidson unravels the confusing links between these emerging powers and shows how their unique economic, political, geographical, and cultural identities both strengthen and threaten their future partnership.
For over a decade now, thinking on regional relations in the Gulf has focused on the competition for regional hegemony between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Today, this perspective is outdated. The smaller Gulf Arab states, led by the United Arab Emirates, are calling for their own goals and interests to be considered and a new regional order has emerged. This book asesses the UAE's increasing power and the future challenges to security it poses. It is a contemporary history and analysis of the changing role of the UAE. Dina Esfandiary argues that the UAE has become more assertive in the pursuit of its own interests in the region and beyond - even when this puts it at odds with its regional allies. This behavior includes the build-up of its military and non-military capabilities, the diversification of its partners, and its willingness to use these resources. The book examines the regional causes of the UAE's growing assertiveness - especially the 2011 Arab Uprisings – as well as the international context such as the impact of the US-announced 'Pivot to Asia', the perceptions of waning US power in the Middle East, and the 2015 nuclear deal. The UAE's changing role in the region will profoundly affect regional security. This book points towards how smaller states in the region will interact with regional hegemons in the long term, as they learn from the UAE's assertiveness and seek to imitate it.
Gulf stability is coming to play a larger role in the foreign policy calculus of many states, but the evolving role of Asian powers is largely under-represented in the International Relations literature. This volume addresses this gap with a set of empirically rich, theory driven case studies written by academics from or based in the countries in question. The underlying assumption is not that Asian powers have already become important security actors in the Gulf, but rather that they perceive the Gulf as a region of increasing strategic relevance. How will leaders in these countries adjust to an evolving regional framework? Will there be coordinated efforts to establish an Asian-centered approach to Gulf stability, or will Asian rivalries make the region a theater of competition? Will US–China tensions force alignment choices among Asian powers? Will Asian states balance, bandwagon, hedge, or adopt some other approach to their Gulf relationships? These questions become even more important as the western boundaries of Asia increasingly come to incorporate the Middle East. The book will appeal to scholars and students in the fields of International Relations, Security Studies, and International Political Economy, as well as area specialists on the Gulf and those working on foreign policy issues on each of the Asian countries included. Professionals in government and non-government agencies will also find it very useful. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
“A standout . . . a balanced, informative, and highly intelligent guide to dealing with China.”—Fareed Zakaria Many see China as a rival superpower to the United States and imagine the country’s rise to be a threat to U.S. leadership in Asia and beyond. Thomas J. Christensen argues against this zero-sum vision. Instead, he describes a new paradigm in which the real challenge lies in dissuading China from regional aggression while encouraging the country to contribute to the global order. Drawing on decades of scholarship and experience as a senior diplomat, Christensen offers a compelling new assessment of U.S.-China relations that is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of the globalized world. The China Challenge shows why China is nowhere near powerful enough to be considered a global “peer competitor” of the United States, but it is already strong enough to destabilize East Asia and to influence economic and political affairs worldwide. Despite China’s impressive achievements, the Chinese Communist Party faces enormous challenges. Christensen shows how nationalism and the threat of domestic instability influence the party’s decisions on issues like maritime sovereignty disputes, global financial management, control of the Internet, climate change, and policies toward Taiwan and Hong Kong. China benefits enormously from the current global order and has no intention of overthrowing it; but that is not enough. China’s active cooperation is essential to global governance. Never before has a developing country like China been asked to contribute so much to ensure international stability. If China obstructs international efforts to confront nuclear proliferation, civil conflicts, financial instability, and climate change, those efforts will falter, but even if China merely declines to support such efforts, the problems will grow vastly more complicated. Analyzing U.S.-China policy since the end of the Cold War, Christensen articulates a balanced strategic approach that explains why we should aim not to block China’s rise but rather to help shape its choices so as to deter regional aggression and encourage China’s active participation in international initiatives that benefit both nations.
Strategic Hedging in the Arab Peninsula: The Politics of the Gulf-Asian Rapprochement offers a new perspective on the geopolitics of Gulf-Asian relations. Jean-Loup Samaan explores the dynamics underpinning the evolution of strategic partnerships between the Gulf States and Asian partners. He looks at how Gulf countries have pursued a diversification strategy in response to the risk of a potential retreat from the region on the part of traditional partners such as the US, and argues that, rather than being the result of a deliberate common policy on the part of the Gulf States, this trend derives from unilateral choices by Gulf leaders, best explained by the concept of ‘strategic hedging’.
"The cohesion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)--defined here as the ability of the six GCC member states to act together or in parallel--has significant consequences for regional stability and U.S. interests. This report examines factors that bind and divide the six GCC states--Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates--and presents the outlook for the GCC's evolution over the next ten years. Addressing the political, economic, and security dimensions of GCC relationships, the study provides a framework for understanding intra-GCC dynamics, an expectation of future developments, and policy recommendations for enhancing stability and U.S. regional interests"--Publisher's description.
