China’s Role and Social Power in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

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Abstract

Over the past decade, China has been establishing access to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region through infrastructure projects and trade development. The MENA is considered a crucial area in China’s foreign policy. This rapidly growing relationship has had significant geopolitical implications, particularly in the context of the rivalry between major powers such as the United States, China, the European Union, and Russia. We argue that China’s approach to establishing influence in the MENA region differs from the West’s: thus far, it has focused on economic incentives and developmental projects rather than military and political tools. Shifting away from the traditional focus on great power and middle power, we propose to combine role theory with the concept of social power, to analyze China-MENA engagement in the 2020s.

Speaker's bio

Emilie Tran was educated in France, she received her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Social Sciences in Paris [Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales]. She is Assistant Professor in Politics and Public Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on China’s global influence in Europe and the Global South (e.g. Co-ed. China in the Mediterranean: An Arena of Strategic Competition?, Routledge 2024), the overseas Chinese, and Hong Kong.