A Window into the Future: Analysing the Sino-Emirati Relationship
Abstract
On paper, China and the UAE could not be more different. The former, a one-party Communist state, is the most populous nation on earth, which aspires to become the world’s leading superpower. The latter, by contrast, is a small federation of Islamic monarchies, characterised by a chronic labour shortage and vast hydrocarbon reserves. Despite these differences, there is a growing Sino-Emirati alliance which offers an important window into wider developments in global political economy and international relations. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, this thesis explores the nature and implications of this unfolding relationship. The first chapter provides the necessary theoretical and historical context against which this topic should be understood. This includes discussion of how developing nations are increasingly looking for models of modernisation without Westernisation, in no small part due to the failures of neo-liberalism. The thesis then outlines the characteristics and development of both China and the UAE, respectively, particularly with regard to how they have engaged with globalisation while simultaneously preserving indigenous cultural norms and avoiding democratic reform. An understanding of each country in and of itself provides the foundation for discussion of the growing Sino-Emirati alliance. What emerges from this analysis is that while this relationship is symptomatic of the broader rise of the non-Western world, its nature is too complex to be reduced to a simple black-and-white picture which envisages a new ‘cold war’ between rival socio-economic systems.