英文摘要

Abstracts

03FromOverallDetachmenttoPositiveInvolvement:China’sDiplomacyTowardtheMiddleEastsincetheReformandOpening-up

AbstractSince the reform and opening-up, China has made significant adjustments to its diplomatic strategy. China’s attitude towards participating in Middle Eastern affairs experienced a shift from “keeping a low profile” to “being more proactive in tactics”, then to emphasizing its role as a great power in the region. With regard to its policy toward the Middle East, China has shifted to actively participating in the settlement of regional hot issues by putting forward its ideas and schemes, then to raising a series of major power diplomacy concepts with Chinese characteristics such as ‘peaceful development’, ‘win-win cooperation’ and ‘building a new type of international relations’ and ‘a(chǎn) community of shared future for mankind’. The position of the Middle East in the Chinese diplomatic strategy ranking is constantly advancing, while the relations between China and the regional countries have also witnessed rapid development from the initial emphasis on mutual political support to mutual cooperation in political, economic, cultural, energy and high-tech and other fields, as well as to the establishment of comprehensive cooperation, common development and future-oriented China-Arab strategic partnership.

KeyWordsReform and Opening-up; China’s Diplomacy toward the Middle East; China-Middle East Relations

AuthorLI Weijian, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

14China’sParticipationintheUNPeacekeepingMissionsintheMiddleEastsincetheReformandOpening-up:IdeationsandPractice

AbstractSince the reform and opening-up, China’s perception of the UN peacekeeping missions has evolved from an emotional to a rational response, from a single-faceted to a comprehensive recognition, from a negative attitude to a positive one. China’s participation in the Middle East security governance has been exemplified by its evolving role in the UN peacekeeping missions in the region, which can be divided into four stages of cautious engagement (1979-1987), preliminary participation (1988-2001), regime innovation (2002-2011), and proactive and strategic design (from 2012 to present). The ideations, policy and trajectory of China’s participation in the UN peacekeeping missions in the Middle East are collectively driven by four dynamics: its gradually deepened reform and opening-up, the enhancement of China’s international status, the expansion of its overseas interests, and the consolidation of its role as a responsible power. China’s participation in the UN peacekeeping has fostered the collective capability of the rising powers in the Middle East security governance, and meanwhile it has been an essential arena for Beijing to explore its “peace-keeping diplomacy” and consolidates its strategic cooperation with the US, Russia, the European Union, the African Union and the League of Arab States, respectively. In the Middle East peacekeeping missions, China should contribute not only to finance and personnel, but also its wisdom for agenda-setting ability, so that China will transcend from a big country to a great power in its UN peacekeeping missions and discourse construction.

KeyWordsChina; Middle East; Security Governance; Peacekeeping Missions; United Nations

AuthorsSUN Degang, Professor, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University; ZHANG Shuai, Ph.D. Candidate, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University.

29People-to-PeopleandCulturalExchangesbetweenChinaandMiddleEasternCountriessincetheReformandOpening-up

AbstractPeople-to-people and cultural exchanges with other countries play a key role in China’s diplomacy, and act as an significant way to consolidate social and public opinion foundation of foreign relations and to improve its opening-up. The establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the subsequent independence of Middle Eastern countries had started a new era of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two. Since the reform and opening-up, and the beginning of the 21st century in particular, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two sides have become increasingly active and fruitful. This article examines achievements, characteristics and significance of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Middle East countries in the previous 40 years, and assesses challenges and prospects facing them. In the context of the “Belt and Road” initiative, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two sides have broad development prospects and practical significance.

KeyWordsPeople-to-People and Cultural Exchanges; Mutual Learning among Civilizations; China; Middle Eastern Countries; Reform and Opening-up

AuthorsDING Jun, Ph.D., Professor, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University and Research Fellow, Ethical and Religious Theories Research Base in Gansu, China United Front Theory Research Association；CHEN Jin, Ph.D. Candidate, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University.

46EconomicRelationsbetweenChinaandtheMiddleEastintheInitialStageofChina’sReformandOpening-up

AbstractThe initial stage of China’s reform and opening-up (1979-1989) was a special and important period during which China had started its economic cooperation with the Middle East countries. It was the period of oil boom for some regional countries and there was an upsurge of large-scale infrastructure construction in the region. Meanwhile, the region was unstable due to the outbreak of Iran-Iraq war and the intensified arms race. Such provided opportunities for Chinese enterprises to develop their economic cooperation with regional countries. During this period, China actively expanded its export to and introduced foreign capital from the Middle East, carried out project contracting and labor exporting, and most spectacularly, seized the opportunity to develop military trade. At the early stage of China’s reform and opening-up, the role of the Middle East played a more significant role than other regions did in promoting China’s economic development, thus China made the first pot of gold for its reform and opening-up.

KeyWordsReform and Opening-up; Middle East; Economic and Trade Relations; Project Contracting; Labor Export; Military Transfer

AuthorXIAO Xian, Ph. D., Professor, Institute of International Studies, Yunnan University.

60ShiiteIssueinContemporaryEgypt:FormationandEvolution

AbstractShiite Muslim act as a religious minority in contemporary Egyptian society. The contemporary Egyptian Shiite Issue originated at the end of Sadat’s regime and escalated into a serious political security conundrum under the Mubarak regime. After the outbreak of upheavals in the Middle East, Shiite sects in Egypt publicly claimed their political and religious rights, which further squeezed their space for public activity. The deteriorating evolution of the Egyptian Shiite issue is the result of interactions among the internal and external factors, mainly represented by the target progress of main political forces and the sectarian-political strife between Iran and Saudi Arabia respectively. Whether the Egyptian Shiite issue can be solved in the future depends mainly on whether the religious minority status can be recognized by the Egyptian constitution, whether the political participation can obtain the trust of the government, and whether the contradiction among domestic sects can be reconciled or not.

KeyWordsEgypt; Shiite Muslims; Saudi Arabia; Iran

AuthorZHAO Jun, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University.

75ModernState-buildingintheMaghrebRegion:FromaGeopoliticalPerspective

AbstractLocated in the junction zone of Asia, Africa and Europe, the Maghreb region is of unique geopolitical significance. It has been one of the world’s most important intersections of diverse civilizations and faced alien invasions many times in ancient times. The article argues that the geopolitical evolution had influenced the Maghreb region’s modern state-building by affecting the region’s nation-state construction and democratic state building. On the one hand, influenced by alien countries’ ethnic policies and the historical compilation, the ethnic cultural identity in Maghreb countries has been characterized by pluralism and ambiguity, which hinders the formation of the new national community and the building of national identity. On the other hand, frequent alien invasions, the religious system, and other legacies of geopolitical evolution also led to the maintenance of pre-historical relations and theocratic values, which impeded the promotion of democratic politics.

KeyWordsMaghreb; Geopolitics; Modern State-building

AuthorsZHANG Chuchu, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge; XIAO Chaowei, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge.

90IllegalMigrationCrisisinLibya:Formation,DevelopmentandGovernance

AbstractIllegal Migration in Libya, as a regional and international issue involving political, economic, social, security and other factors, became under control in Gaddafi’s era due to Libya’s cooperation with European Union countries. Since the “Arab Spring” in 2011, with the overthrown of the Gaddafi regime, Libya had been in power vacuum. Against the backdrop of the lack of government management, Libya’s illegal migration crisis has continued to deteriorate. Intertwined with human trafficking, terrorism, smuggling and other problems, this issue had worsened the contradictions in Libyan politics, economy and society, and challenged security in Africa and the Europe. The governance of illegal migration in Libya requires African countries to establish cooperative mechanisms on regional security issues, as well as the international community to cooperate in dealing with the challenges posed by illegal immigration and refugee problems in North Africa.

KeyWordsLibya; Illegal Migration; Human Trafficking; Refugee Crisis

AuthorsAlimujiang AIHEMAITI, Social Security Supervisor, CNPC Great Wall Drilling Company, Libya-Tunisia Bureau; LI Yuan, Tripoli Bureau Chief of Xinhua News Agency.

105TunisianPoliticalPartySysteminaDemocraticTransition

AbstractTunisia has transformed from an authoritarian country to a democratic one since early 2011. During this period, political parties took a significant role. The political party system has experienced a transition from fragmentation to institutionalization, and this process has not finished till now. In the democratic transition, political party system functioned well to some extent, which provided a channel for political participation, constructed a constitution system, and formed a rational competitive system for different political forces. Tunisian political stability in transition period depends much on this system. Tunisian political party system has accomplished a great progress after the uprising, and Tunisia has established a modern political party system gradually. However, Tunisian political stability depends on the political party system, the latter’s unfulfilled development puts a shadow on the prospects of democratic consolidation in Tunisia.

KeyWordsTunisia; Political Parties; Political Participation; Democratic Transition

AuthorLI Jingqiang, Ph.D., Lecturer, History and Cultural Department, Luo Yang Normal College; Postdoctoral Fellow, World History Centre, Zhengzhou University.