La presencia de China en Oriente Próximo tras la guerra fría: relevancia y efectos de su diplomacia e intereses económicos en la región

Abstract

Since the Second World War, Chinese diplomacy in the Middle East evolved from sheer dogmatism to growing pragmatism. Still, the need of securing stability in a key region did not change since then; if during the Cold War the main threat was domination by enemy powers, economic reforms and the collapse of Communism ushered China into an era of energy dependence from the Middle East. Such interest in stability makes its agenda coincident with the US´, but its bilateral relations with countries such as Iran, in particular regarding arms transfers, cause important frictions. Proliferation is not the only problem. The prospect of energy competition casts a shadow on their future relations. Nevertheless, there exist some elements other than their shared longing As China neither wants to nor is able to substitute the US as the regional hegemonic power and did not either take advantage of Bush´s unilateral foreign policy to politically entice apprehensive countries, the opportunities open by energy cooperation and the possibilities of seeing Chinese dependence of Saudi Arabia change its policy towards Iran, are elements to be considered by the incoming Obama Administration. Understanding the mechanisms of trilateral relations between both countries and the Middle East will be necessary to exploit the elements conducing to harmony and stability.