THE CHINA FACTOR IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

Abstract

This collective monograph results from the research conducted political scientists, economists, historians and international relations scholars from the Institute of Europe RAS, Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, IMEMO RAS, MGIMO University, National State University Higher School of Economics. The chapters of the monograph share the same goal – to reveal the extent China is already present in the Mediterranean, to explore which role PRC plays in the socio-economic and political development of the states of the region, what are the future prospects of its presence and influence. The Mediterranean is highly heterogeneous in political, historical, cultural, and civilizational sense. The region consists of the members of the European Union, politically unstable states of the Middle East and North Africa, the states of the Balkans, which are still in the process of self-determination and nation-building, and ambitious regional power Turkey. The study reveals the unique state experiences of relations with the PRC in order to identify common features and national specifics. For Russia, which has its own agenda of cooperation with the Mediterranean states, understanding of the Chinese factor in the development of the region also seems necessary and significant.