The Red Star and the Crescent

The People’s Republic of China has emerged in the twenty-first century as a major global power, a stakeholder and game-changer, particularly in the Middle East and Central Asia. A gap created by the failure of European and U.S. policies in the Middle East allowed China to make strategic moves to capture the Middle Eastern oil market as a major consumer of oil. As of 2015 China has become the world’s largest importer of crude oil, more than half of its oil supply coming from the Middle East. Similarly, Chinese exports to the Middle East and the Central Asian Muslim Republics increased enormously. Even the physical presence of Chinese nationals in these markets is noticeable. According to available researches, over five hundred and fifty thousand Chinese nationals are presently working in the Middle East. The Chinese strategy appears to be using its soft economic power to expand its influence in the Middle East (p. 15). The volume under review contains eleven chapters and an introduction, all written by scholars who specialize in Chinese studies and Middle Eastern affairs. It has been designed as a conversation among the authors. In his paper, Andrew Scobell tries to explain China’s strategy in the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. He believes that China does not want to make major investments in the Middle East, though it appears it want to build its economic relations more deeply in South and Central Asia.