China-MENA Relations

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

China is an increasingly influential actor across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This course examines the pillars of Sino-MENA engagement and explores the economic, political, and sociocultural implications of growing Chinese involvement in the region. Students must consider these implications across various levels: government-to-government, firm-to-firm, and people-to-people. The course pairs thematic classes with relevant country case studies in modules consisting of two classes, enabling students to situate key themes and theoretical concepts within specific geographic and institutional contexts. The first class of each module introduces a theme or topic, while the second class incorporates a relevant country case study. In their associated assignments, students are encouraged to delve deeper into how a particular theme applies to the designated country case study or examine how a given topic/issue has unfolded in another Middle Eastern country of their preference. As part of the review section at the end of the course, students will be required to submit a longer comparative analysis that incorporates two or more country case studies.