The Sustainability Turn in UAE–Japan Relations

Relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Japan since the 1970s have revolved around oil diplomacy. As the UAE diversifies its economy and embraces sustainability, this paper explores how the bilateral relationship has undergone a sustainability turn. It does so by assessing the logic of sustainability and the mutual interests for both parties. It is argued that the sustainability turn reflects what the UAE needs in terms of renewable technologies and skills, coupled with what Japan can provide in return for favorable oil concessions and new markets. Cases of the Japanese government mobilizing various resources and actors to address the UAE’s sustainability needs are examined to gauge how sustainability has been embedded into the bilateral relationship. The sustainability turn provides not just a fresh analytical lens but also it generates insights into policy and a new assemblage of practices and stakeholders that have emerged as part of this increasingly multilayered relationship.

Factors Influencing China’s Oil Diplomacy in the Middle East

Even though China extracts oil more than any other country in the Asia-Pacific region, the country is still hugely dependent on imports, and this dependence increases with each passing year. In recent years, the need for import of oil in China had risen from 35% in 2000 to 70% in 2017. Today, the People’s Republic of China mainly buys crude oil in the Middle East and political change in the region directly influence on Chinese foreign policy. In this study, we examined four critical factors that influence china’s oil diplomacy in the Middle East. Accordingly, Arab spring events, OPEC, China foreign policies and strategies, and influence of the U.S. in the region have direct or indirect effects on china’s oil diplomacy. China’s historical reaction to these factors is remarkable and made its energy security strategies in the Middle east. This study shows that the events of the Arab Spring hurt China’s oil diplomacy with the middle East countries. The developments taking place in the Middle East from the beginning of the Arab Spring have led to an increase in world oil prices. For China, this meant higher import bills and a reduction in the trade surplus, as well as slower economic growth, as the contribution of net exports decreased. OPEC market controlling strategies let China thinks to other oil producers, and oil exports from the Middle East reduced in front of increasing imports from other regions. U.S. as hegemon of the area somehow made steady pressure on China alliance, especially after making sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear programs. During the trade war between the two countries, the influence of the U.S. on China oil diplomacy more appeared.

Building Neighbourly Policy Through Oil

China has always tried to maintain a stable and peaceful environment in the territories on its borders and has made great efforts to ensure that all the countries of Central Asia have remained under its influence since 1949. Consequently, increased U.S. presence in Central Asia has caused great discomfort in Chinese policy circles. One Chinese approach to the countries of this region is to engage Central Asian nations through channels relating to energy, and oil in particular. In recent years, Chinese oil companies have purchased rights and exploited reserves of oil and natural gas in many Central Asian countries. Through its oil companies, the Chinese establishment strengthens and deepens bonds of friendship with countries like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. This practice has become known as 'oil diplomacy.' This new tool offers the Chinese government two benefits, as it engenders both the increased projection of Chinese geopolitical power and the dilution of U.S. influence in the region.

Book reviw: Yanran Xu. (2017). China’s Strategic Partnerships in Latin America. Case Studies of China’s Oil Diplomacy in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela, 1991-2015. Leхington Books, 157 р

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