Yoram Evron, a lecturer in the Asian Studies Department at the University of Haifa, has a new piece called “Iran, China, and the Israeli Stick.”
The article touches on several of the themes laid out by Flynt Leverett, Hillary Mann Leverett, and John Garver in their monograph published earlier this year, Moving (Slightly) Closer to Iran: China’s Shifting Calculus For Managing Its Persian Gulf Dilemma.
The piece identifies four key Chinese interests with regard to Iran: China’s drive to establish itself as an alternative to American power; Iran’s importance to China’s energy security; China’s desire to have positive relations with all major actors in the Middle East; and finally, China’s desire to weaken the United States’ military dominance in the region.
My only quibble with the article is that it overstates the credibility of the U.S.-Saudi offer to “make up for” Iran’s oil supplies to China in the event of sanctions that affect Iran’s export capacity. This kind of arrangement is highly risky to China and it would have been shocking if they had agreed to it.
– Ben Katcher
Nice post & nice blog. I love both.