China’s Political Influence in the Arab Gulf through Economic and Technological Channels

Abstract

China’s economic rise has become an unavoidable discussion in the sector of international affairs. By achieving incredible feats of developments, China made its presence known in the global geopolitical sphere. In doing so, it utilized its massive capabilities as a tool to forge ties with regional and global players rivalling the western hegemony, later translating into political alliances, a method discussed under the dependency theory. As a global provider, China itself is in need of massive resources, most notably oil, abundant in the Arab Gulf. This thesis aims to study how China used its economic prowess in order to make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, 2 main players of the Arab Gulf, dependent on its resources in the field of technology (microchips) and solar energy (solar panels) due to their futuristic plans of developing those 2 sectors, and through that economic dependency instill its political aspirations and influence, manifesting the dependency theory.