New Article: Burton, Beijing’s Shift in Relation to the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Burton, Guy. “Explaining Beijing’s Shift from Active to Passive Engagement in Relation to the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” Sociology of Islam 4.2 (2016): 93-112.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22131418-00402001

 

Extract

As a ‘rising power’, China is expected to play a greater global role. But current Chinese involvement in the long-running and internationalised Arab-Israeli conflict is limited. How to explain this? What does it suggest about China’s regional and global role? Studying Beijing’s involvement since the 1950s, I note Chinese military assistance to the Palestinians during the 1960s-70s and strong criticism of Israel. But from the 1980s Beijing adopted a more diplomatic approach and endorsed the two-state solution. The change was due to China’s broader regional and international relations. During the Cold War Beijing’s ‘active’ pro-Palestinian stance was associated with being ‘outside’ the superpower-dominated international system. By the end of the Cold War Beijing was ‘inside’ the international system and increasingly integrated into the global economy. Commercial considerations trumped political ones, emphasising diplomacy. This suggests China’s exercise of global power may be more nuanced and less overt than otherwise assumed.

 

 

 

New Book: Goldstein and Shichor, China and Israel from Discord to Concord (Hebrew)

יונתן גולדשטיין ויצחק שיחור, עורכים. סין וישראל – מאיבה לקרבה. ירושלים: מאגנס, 2016.

 

 

In January 1950, Israel was the first country in the Middle East and the seventh in the non-communist world who recognized the PRC. Israel did not promote the establishment of diplomatic relations, mainly because of pressure from the US and fears of Chinese communism, while China avoided their promotion because it favored relations with the Arab and Muslim world. Only 42 years later, in January 1992, the two countries established diplomatic relations. Despite the geographic, cultural, and political distance between Israel and China, today the ties between the two countries are flourishing, especially but not exclusively in the financial arena. This volume includes articles dealing with the connection between the two countries before the establishment of diplomatic relations and afterwards. Among other things, it discusses the historical and Jewish background, diplomatic aspects, Asian and the Middle Eastern contexts, the role of the Communist Party, the process of establishing relations, international, military, and economic dimensions of these relations, as well as the development of relations between Israel, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The authors reflect a combination of the academic world of research and the practical world of diplomacy.

The book deals with the relations between Israel and China and their dramatic change from enmity and lack of contact to friendship and closeness. The articles are based on documents and primary sources as well as personal experiences. In addition to the references in every article, the book includes a reading list of publications which do not appear in it. The book, which is a new version of a previous edition published in English in the late nineties, includes new sources and additional and updated articles that refer to relations between the two countries to this day. It is intended for students and a general readership, both professional and unprofessional.

 

New Article: Evron, China’s Diplomatic Initiatives in the Middle East

Evron, Yoram. “China’s Diplomatic Initiatives in the Middle East: The Quest for a Great-Power Role in the Region.” International Relations (early view; online first).

 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0047117815619664
 
Abstract

Since the early 2010s, there have been mounting calls in China to intensify its role in the Middle East. But seeing the region as highly turbulent, Beijing seems to restrain its political involvement there. So what role does China actually strive for in the Middle East? To answer this question, the article first presents China’s discourse on its future role in the region; next, it analyzes China’s involvement in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Syrian civil war, focusing on three diplomatic initiatives it has made concerning these issues. The argument here is that China strives to be part of major processes in the Middle East and attempts to advance its values and interests there, but in a unique pattern of big-power involvement in the region, it tries to achieve this without intensive investment of political, economic, and military resources.

 

 

 

New Article: Ran, China’s Perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Ran, Gai. “Religion and Realism in International Law: China’s Perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” Review of European Studies 7.9 (2015): 10-17.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/res.v7n9p10

 

Abstract
The purpose of this article is trying to answer the following question: What else a State needs to consider, besides its international legal obligations, when developing its foreign policy? I hope to demonstrate how factors such as religion and realism affect a country’s foreign policy by using the case of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and China’s interactions with the two nations. China successfully adapt realistic attitude in making its middle-east policy. It supported Palestine for the ideology of anti-imperialism, but established relation with Israel for the need of national interest. In this article, I would give a general introduction of the history of China’s relation with Palestine and Israel, including several key incidents that carry great significance in this triangular relationship. Through my introduction, I hope to demonstrate how religion and realism affects a nation’s foreign policies, as well as international law. I would discuss China’s involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of international relations. First, I will focus on the changes and evolvements of China’s relationships with Palestine and Israel throughout history, and briefly discuss what China has done in the past with the two countries. Second, I will introduce how Chinese society views the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the end, proposals will be made for China’s future policy in the region.

 
 
 

 

ToC: Israel Studies 20.3 (2015) | Special Issue: Moshe Sharett: A Retrospective

Israel Studies 20.3 (2015)

Special Issue—Moshe Sharett: A Retrospective

 

 

• Front Matter (pp. i-iv)

1. Introduction (pp. v-vii)

   Natan Aridan and Gabriel (Gabi) Sheffer
2. The Sharett Legacy (pp. 1-17)

   Gabriel Sheffer
3. “Perhaps We’ll Meet Again”—Moshe Sharett’s Military Service (pp. 18-38)

   Glenda Abramson
4. Moshe Shertok and the Arab Problem: First Steps, 1931–1933 (pp. 39-62)

   Yaron Ran
5. “Between Two Mountains”: On Moshe Sharett and His Relations With David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann (pp. 63-76)

   Yosef Gorny
6. Love/Hate Story: Moshe Sharett and AMAN (Military Intelligence), 1954–1956 (pp. 77-101)

   Ohad Leslau
7. Striking When the Iron is Cold: Moshe Sharett and Sino-Israeli Relations (pp. 102-130)

   Yitzhak Shichor
8. Why Was Moshe Sharett Deposed? A Historical Question and a Historiographical Issue (pp. 131-157)

   Yechiam Weitz
9. Moshe Sharett—Right or Wrong? (pp. 158-175)

   Yaakov Sharett

New Article: Shichor, Chinese-Israeli Relations in a Middle Eastern Context

Shichor, Yitzhak. “Chinese-Israeli Relations in a Middle Eastern Context: Retrospect and Prospects.” Mediterranean Quarterly 26.1 (2015): 137-51.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/10474552-2873021

 

Abstract

Although studies on China’s Middle East policy frequently separate Israel from the rest of the region, Beijing has always been aware of regional contradictions and tried to navigate between the two sides it perceived as interconnected. China’s attempts to adopt a balanced relationship with both sides in the 1950s were later replaced by a zero-sum game policy in which Israel was totally excluded. Since the 1980s Beijing has resurrected its balanced Middle East policy. While still sticking to nonintervention in regional conflicts, the Chinese implicitly offer their own experience of using economic means to overcome sociopolitical tensions.

ToC: Israel Studies 17,3 (2012)

URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.issue-3

• SPECIAL SECTION: Israel’s Foreign Relations — Asian Perspectives

  1. 

     China’s Relationship with Israel, Opportunities and Challenges, Perspectives from ChinaChina’s Relationship with Israel, Opportunities and Challenges, Perspectives from China(pp. 1-21)

     Yiyi Chen

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.1

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.1

  2. 

     Indians and Israelis: Beyond Strategic PartnershipsIndians and Israelis: Beyond Strategic Partnerships(pp. 22-44)

     Maina Chawla Singh

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.22

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.22

  3. 

     Turkey and Israel in the 2000s—From Cooperation to ConflictTurkey and Israel in the 2000s—From Cooperation to Conflict(pp. 45-66)

     Özlem Tür

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.45

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.45

• Literature and Music

  1. 

     Samson’s Suicide: Death and the Hebrew Literary CanonSamson’s Suicide: Death and the Hebrew Literary Canon(pp. 67-91)

     Rachel S. Harris

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.67

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.67

  2. 

     Contested Zionist Masculinity and the Redemption of the Schlemiel in Levi Aryeh Arieli’s “Allah Karim!”Contested Zionist Masculinity and the Redemption of the Schlemiel in Levi Aryeh Arieli’s “Allah Karim!”(pp. 92-118)

     Philip Hollander

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.92

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.92

  3. 

     Israeli Art Music: A ReintroductionIsraeli Art Music: A Reintroduction(pp. 119-149)

     Assaf Shelleg

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.119

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.119

• Article

  1. 

     The Construction of Ethnic Identity in the Military—From the Bottom UpThe Construction of Ethnic Identity in the Military—From the Bottom Up(pp. 150-175)

     Dana Kachtan

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.150

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.150

• Zionist Dialectics

  1. 

     Zionism’s Conflicting Founding Designs and Their Ideological ImpactZionism’s Conflicting Founding Designs and Their Ideological Impact(pp. 176-190)

     Meir Seidler

     DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.176

     Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.176

• 

  Notes on ContributorsNotes on Contributors(pp. 191-192)

  DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.191

  Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.191

• 

  Guidelines for ContributorsGuidelines for Contributors(pp. 193-195)

  DOI: 10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.193

  Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.17.3.193