World Sociopolitical Studies
Volume:5 Issue: 4, Autumn 2021

Access and control of Energy has not only been historically instrumental in the sociopolitical and economic shaping of nations, but also central to the global world of politics, systems, and geopolitics. Energy resources of the Russian Federation have made the country more influential in world politics. Energy and geopolitical issues are especially important to modern People’s Republic of China as a tool for the country’s economic growth. Since the mid twentieth century, both countries have attempted to establish mutual energy cooperation as a key component of their strategic alliance based on producer-consumer needs and the Good Neighborly Treaty. Nonetheless, since the end of the cold war in the 1990s, the energy negotiations have been long and unproductive because both nations are on both sides of the energy market. For the Russian Federation, revenue from its oil and gas sector traditionally makes up a large portion of its budget. Thus, Russia is unwilling to make concessions and involve China in its major upstream energy projects. In the interim, China also seeks to diversify its oil and gas resources and imports for its own political dependency, growth, and to prevent countries from overreliance on one single source and market. Issues such as pricing and the provisions of agreements have made the energy relations between the two countries more complex than the relations between producers and consumers. Despite the two countries being neighbors, their relations have not been developed.

China is consolidating its position in the international system, taking advantage of a variety of channels in the process. The establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a historical step by China in the international economic order. The AIIB, as an international financial and development institution attempts to engage and participate in the economic infrastructures of the member states. The question addressed in this research is, How could China's approach in establishing the AIIB be analyzed with respect to new economic developments in the last two decades?  The hypothesis is that the AIIB is considered as a network structure for making a centrality in the economic order for China, which facilitates the systemic evolution in international arena. The AIIB is therefore considered as a strategic turning point in the international economic order. This study argues that China is attempting to elevate and consolidate its economic role among the regional countries to institutionalize its centrality. Accordingly, it seems that China aspires to promote changes in the international system through a complementary and distinguished evolution. Therefore, the reliability of the AIIB is vital for this openness phase, and China is keenly going to maintain and strengthen the AIIB for coming games and required strategic plans.

The sun of China’s might has cast a dragon shadow over Europe. While China’s economic influence in the world has been largely discussed—either in terms of its immediate neighbors in Asia, or in its strained but complementary relations with the US—its European vision has been kept in the dark. Considering the increasing involvement of China in international relations, this paper seeks to answer the following research question: What does the Chinese engagement with Central and Eastern European Countries—such as the one under China-CEEC 17+1 initiative—entail for the European security? To answer the mentioned question, we hypothesize that the involvement of China in the region has negatively affected EU’s efforts to promote policy coherence and to form a common foreign and defense policy, and therefore, the EU has begun securitizing China to limit its influence in the region. Guided by these objectives, this study employs a qualitative research design using official EU and Chinese policy reports and statistics. Given the security dimension of China’s involvement in Europe, Buzan’s Regional Security Complex theory was adopted as the study’s conceptual framework. The research findings suggest that China (through China-CEEC cooperation) has enjoyed direct access to sensitive-security sectors, and differences over the direction of EU project have exacerbated the EU’s difficulty to mount a coherent response.

China is actively engaged in Afghanistan, especially with the Neo-Taliban, which indicates significant changes in China's foreign policy. The Chinese government invited the Neo-Taliban delegations several times and tried to expand their role in their country. The present study examines the impact of China's active engagement with the Neo-Taliban, using Ibn Khaldun's Social Theory and Discourse Analysis. Questioning the nature of the active engagement of China with Neo- Taliban, we hypothesized an increase in insecurity overflow from Afghanistan to China, as well as an increase in insecurity complications in Afghanistan against China’s interests. It became clear that the Neo-Taliban's increasing interaction with China was to the detriment of Taliban and ultimately China. The Doha Peace Agreement requested the control and restriction of foreign fighters residing in Afghanistan, which for the foreign fighters, including the Uighurs, were a reminder of the restrictions imposed on them before the fall of the Islamic Emirate. However, Mullah Omar did not openly engage with China. This will delegitimize the Afghan Neo-Taliban and ultimately create a disperse Neo-Taliban with a fragile legitimacy, whose fragility does not seem to collapse, but will not serve China's interests either.

China has invested in the Gwadar port in Pakistan to create an economic corridor with the aim of connecting China to Central Asia through the Indian Ocean. This program is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including several roads, sea routes, and corridors. On the other hand, India, a regional rival to China, is keen to invest in the port of Chabahar in the I.R. Iran to create the International North-South corridor, which can connect India to Central Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Northern Europe through the Indian Ocean. According to these significant facts, two critical questions will be discussed in the present study: the first question investigates whether Indo-Chinese competition makes Chabahar and Gwadar rival ports, and the second question examines whether it would be possible for China to investigate in Chabahar as an alternative corridor. To address these questions, the present study hypothesizes that Chabahar can be an international port, fulfilling the interests of all parties, including China. This study is a qualitative research, based on the International Order theory by Hadley Bull, using the SWOT analysis in order to address the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of Iran-China bilateral relations in Chabahar for both sides. For collecting the data, existing documents and articles, as well as in-depth interviews have been used. Results indicate that the Chabahar port, as one of the main gateways to the Iranian transit corridors, could be a common point of Interest for Iran, India and China to create a regional order, based on cooperation in transit.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a strategic technology, has provided a platform for international competition; ever since the development of the first AI strategy in 2017, to the final days of 2021, more than fifty countries drafted or declared their national strategy aiming at becoming one of the pioneering countries in this field. Although the United States is known as the current pioneering country in the field of AI, China has been able to lead in various areas related to AI, such as occupational opportunities, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Blockchain, and G5, which, due to the historical significance of emerging technologies in changing the balance of power, present a clear image of what is to come at the international stage. Given the novelty of artificial intelligence in the balance of power, the author asks about the effect of China’s artificial intelligence on the international balance of power. The answer is the hypothesis that China tries to effectively interact with its leading private artificial intelligence companies and implement this technology in internal, economic, and military governance. Thus, China aims to raise its national power and challenge the American hegemony through hard internal balance, paving the way for a multipolar world order alongside other regional powers leading in artificial intelligence. This could lead to further instability in the international system. The research hypothesis was analyzed using the explanatory method and Mearsheimer's Balance of Power Theory, and the data collection method consisted of library research.