{"title":"Rising Asian transactionalist players in the Middle East: deciphering the roles of China and India in the Persian Gulf","authors":"Chuchu Zhang, Sujata Ashwarya","doi":"10.1177/00471178241231719","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the evolution of China and India’s involvement in the Middle East, and what it means for the region’s geopolitical landscape. Using transactionalist behavior theory, it argues that the rising Asian powers follow different trajectories in the Middle East than the conventional, established powers led by the United States. Instead of following well-designed scripts, these new players’ role making and role performance in the region serve immediate, non-systematic goals, with a focus on short-term benefits. Our case studies of the two Asian powerhouses’ interactions with GCC countries and Iran show that China is now in a better position as compared to India due to the mass resources it possesses. So far, neither Beijing nor New Delhi is interested in playing catch-up with each other or with US. Yet, the regional actors’ increasing reception of ad-hoc, mutual transactions with their new Asian benefactors regardless of common values and long-term commitment diversifies the region’s landscape, ensuring that China and India will always find a role to play.","PeriodicalId":47031,"journal":{"name":"International Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Relations","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00471178241231719","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article examines the evolution of China and India’s involvement in the Middle East, and what it means for the region’s geopolitical landscape. Using transactionalist behavior theory, it argues that the rising Asian powers follow different trajectories in the Middle East than the conventional, established powers led by the United States. Instead of following well-designed scripts, these new players’ role making and role performance in the region serve immediate, non-systematic goals, with a focus on short-term benefits. Our case studies of the two Asian powerhouses’ interactions with GCC countries and Iran show that China is now in a better position as compared to India due to the mass resources it possesses. So far, neither Beijing nor New Delhi is interested in playing catch-up with each other or with US. Yet, the regional actors’ increasing reception of ad-hoc, mutual transactions with their new Asian benefactors regardless of common values and long-term commitment diversifies the region’s landscape, ensuring that China and India will always find a role to play.
期刊介绍:
International Relations is explicitly pluralist in outlook. Editorial policy favours variety in both subject-matter and method, at a time when so many academic journals are increasingly specialised in scope, and sectarian in approach. We welcome articles or proposals from all perspectives and on all subjects pertaining to international relations: law, economics, ethics, strategy, philosophy, culture, environment, and so on, in addition to more mainstream conceptual work and policy analysis. We believe that such pluralism is in great demand by the academic and policy communities and the interested public.