China’s Contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions in the Middle East and North Africa: Security Balancing Signals

Document Type : Original Article

Author

PhD Graduate, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

China’s participation in the United Nations peacekeeping missions has been very striking in recent years, notably since 2000. In accounting for China's such operations in the Middle East and North Africa, this article focuses on security perspective. The aim of the paper is to address China's peacekeeping policies in relation to the country’s strategic preferences and utilities. The findings show that the calculus behind China's ascendency in the peacekeeping engagement, and perhaps its foreign policy, has shifted with its improved international image not only in economic and diplomatic arenas but also security enhancement and balancing against the United States.  In other words, China is surpassing the U.S. as the leader in UN peacekeeping and crafting an image for itself within the international community which will be evaluated in three sections; firstly, shedding lights on China’s level of participation in the peacekeeping missions in the Middle East and North Africa, secondly, assessing its military strategy and, finally, noticing China’s balancing responses to the United States.

Keywords

References

  1. References

    1. Bobrow, Davis B. and Mark A. Boyer, (1997) "Maintaining System Stability: Contributions to Peacekeeping Operations." The Journal of Conflict Resolution41(December).
    2. Gaddy, Franz-Stefan (2015), China's Naval Diplomacy: Plan Ships Visit German Port of Hamburg (January): http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/ chinas-naval-diplomacy-plan-ships-visit-german-port-of-hamborg/
    3. Garwood-Gowers, Andrew (2012) China and the "Responsibility to Protect": the implications of the Libyan intervention. Asian Journal of International Law, 2(2).
    4. Geoxavier, Bernard Yudkin( 2012) China As Peacekeeper: An Updated Perspective on Humanitarian Interventions, Yale Journal of International Affairs, (September).
    5. Glosny, Michael A. (2012), The Grand Strategies of Rising Powers: Reassurance, Coercion, and Balancing ResponsesMassachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
    6. Hisako, Shimura, (2001),"The Role of the UN Secretariat in Organizing Peacekeeping," in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Ad Hoc Missions, Permanent Engagement, Tokyo: United Nations Press.
    7. Lin- Greenberg, Eric (2009) Blue Helmeted Dragons: Explaining China's Participation in United Nations Peace Operations, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
    8. Mearsheimer, John (2010), "The Gathering Storm: China's Challeng to U.S Power in Asia", Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 3.
    9. Miller, Benjamin, (1998) "The Logic of U.S. Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War Era", Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 19, No. 3 (December).
    10. Neack, Laura (1995), "UN Peacekeeping: In the Interest of Community or Self," Journal of Peace Research32 (May).
    11. Olson, Mancur (1965), The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups, London: Harvard University Press.
    12. Sun, Degang (2015), China's Soft Military Presence in the Middle East, Middle East Studies Institute: www.mei.edu/content/map/china's-soft-military-presence-middle-east (accessed in April 2018).
    13. United Nations Charter (2018): www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter (accessed in April 2018). 
    14. United Nations Peacekeeping (2018), contributions by country : www. peacekeeping.un.org/en/china (accessed in April 2018). 
    15. Yin, HE (2007), China's Changing Policy on UN Peacekeeping Operations, Stockholm: Institute for Security and Development Policy.
    16. Zeming, Jiang (2002), Together Create a New Century of Peace and Prosperity, Xinhua News Agency, (April 10).
Iranian Review for UN Studies
Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 2
January 2019
Pages 205-224

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics