China and the Middle East conflicts I Guy Burton I August 2020

How do aspiring and established rising global powers respond to conflict? Since the People’s Republic was established in 1949, China has long been involved in the Middle East and its conflicts, from exploiting or avoiding them, to their management, containment or resolution. This webinar will examine China’s engagement with the region’s conflicts including: Israel/Palestine; Iraq before and after 2003; Sudan and the Darfur crisis; the Iranian nuclear deal; the Gulf crisis; and the wars in Syria, Libya and Yemen. This webinar will explore how a rising, global, non-Western power handles the challenges associated with both violent and non-violent conflict as well as the differences between limiting and reducing violence alongside other ways to eliminate the causes of conflict and grievance. About the speaker Guy Burton is Adjunct Professor at Vesalius College, Brussels and Fellow on the 'Sectarianism, proxies and de-sectarianisation' project at Lancaster University. He has previously held research and teaching positions at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai, Nottingham University’s Malaysia campus, the University of Kurdistan-Hewler in Iraq and Birzeit University in the West Bank. His research interests include the role of rising powers and the politics and international relations of the Middle East. He is the author of 'China and Middle East conflicts' (Routledge, 2020) and 'Rising powers and the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1947' (Lexington Books 2018).