'China’s Law of the Sea in the Middle East' a podcast episode with Isaac B Kardon

The latest China-MENA Podcast for Atlantic Council is out! Join me and Isaac B. Kardon for a conversation about China's law of the sea in the Middle East.

At a time when China’s global footprint is getting deeper and deeper, it has never been more important to understand its foreign policy. The Middle East is one of the world’s most consequential regions: home to major religions, diverse cultural and social heritage, central to global energy markets, and of course, geopolitics, linking people and markets in Asia, Africa and Europe. The podcast will feature conversations with academics, government leaders, and the policy community to provide insights into how China’s evolving role in the Middle East affects intra-regional development, trade, security, and diplomacy.

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction

07:08 – Disrupting Norms: China’s Impact on the International Maritime Order

11:17 – Probing Regional Responses to China’s Assertiveness

13:26 – Delving into China’s Emphasis on Sovereignty Concerns

18:42 – Shifting Tides: Increasing PLA Deployments and Global Dynamics

20:14 – Navigating Challenges: China’s Maritime Interests and Complexities

24:58 – The Precarious Balance: China’s Posture Changes and Potential Conflicts

28:05 – Strategic Stronghold: Djibouti’s Significance in Chinese Diplomacy

30:25 – Bridging the Divide: Chinese Perspectives on Overseas Actions

34:56 – Anticipating Support: Political and Security Pathways for China

39:50 – Economic Priorities: Balancing Development and Security in China

44:05 – Strategic Insights: Evaluating Military Missions and Facilities

45:27 – Tactical Transactions: Chinese Military Utilization of Commercial Spaces

47:49 – Outro

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DcPpjT0JHKR4hutNeiPvs - China-MENA Podcast - March 6, 2024 - By Atlantic Council - https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/china-mena-podcast/chinas-law-of-the-sea-in-the-middle-east/

Isaac B. Kardon, Ph.D., (孔适海博士) is a senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is concurrently adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and was formerly assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College (NWC), where he served as a research faculty member in the China Maritime Studies Institute.

Isaac’s research centers on the People’s Republic of China’s maritime power, with specialization in maritime disputes and the international law of the sea, Chinese global port development, China-Pakistan relations, and the People’s Liberation Army’s overseas basing. His writing appears in International Security, Security Studies, Foreign Affairs, the Naval War College Review, as well as other scholarly and policy publications. Isaac’s book, China’s Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order (Yale, 2023) analyzes whether and how China is “making the rules” of regional and global order.

At Carnegie, Isaac is building on his foundation of research on China in the maritime domain to explore China’s role in the wider global commons. High seas, deep seabed, polar regions, and orbital space are among the “strategic frontier issues” prioritized by China’s leadership—and thus key sites to observe China’s interests in and influence on vital global rules, norms, and standards. China’s interest in leading the nascent regime for deep sea mining is a particular area of research focus. He is also continuing “past the pier” on his existing stream of research on PRC ports to further study China’s development of transport and communications infrastructure networks with dual civilian and military functions.

Isaac earned a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University, an M.Phil in modern Chinese studies from Oxford University, and a B.A. in history from Dartmouth College. He was a China & the World post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University, and has held visiting appointments at NYU School of Law, Academia Sinica, and the PRC National Institute for South China Sea Studies. He studied Chinese (Mandarin) at Peking University, Tsinghua University, Hainan University, and National Taiwan Normal University.

Photo Credit: https://cdns-images.dzcdn.net/images/talk/b806d897b226cf53ba283d2263a2c479/500x500.jpg