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China’s Global Policy - Week 8: Shaping a New Middle East Together
Tickets at the door only (no online ticket sales)

Instructor
Robert G. Rabil
W281
Video Catch-up
Available

Course Description

Historically, Chinese rulers saw their country as the Middle Kingdom, reflecting their concept of Zhongguo. Following what the Chinese perceive as the humiliating 19th and early 20th centuries, this view of Zhongguo today is taken to heart by President Xi, who apparently seeks to position China at the world's cultural, political, and economic center. It is against the backdrop of this worldview, Chinese relations with the United States and the rest of the world will be shaped. As American-Chinese relations intensify, possibly to the point of enmity, will China's dream of becoming the Middle Kingdom entail a new international order, disorder, or something in the middle? This special series examines China's global policy in an attempt to understand its plans, policies, and challenges to secure its global centrality.

Lectures

  1. China’s History, Present, and Worldview
  2. China and the United States
  3. China and Russia
  4. China and Europe
  5. China and Israel
  6. China and Islam
  7. China and the Middle East
  8. This week will include a conversation titled "Shaping a New Middle East Together" with a panel of special guests: Hayvi Bouzo, Syrian-born American journalist; Fatema Al Harbi, Vice Chairman Sharaka Bahrain; Dan Feferman, Israeli-American author, and; Omar Al Busaidy, member US-UAE Public Affairs Committee.

    Sharaka (“Partnership” in Arabic) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 2020 by people from Israel, The United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain after the signing of The Abraham Accords.
     
    The stated mission of the organization is to develop bonds between young Israeli and Gulf leaders, in order to strengthen peace, trust, and cooperation between the respective societies.
     
    The organization presently has three operational divisions located in Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.

Course Info

  • Time: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Date: Tuesdays, January 11, 18, 25; February 1, 8, 15, 22; March 1
  • Location: Friedberg Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Building
  • Fees: Member - $120
    Non-member - $160
    One-time guest pass, Member or Non-member at the door - $25.

About the Instructor

  • Robert G. Rabil, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned scholar. His books have been highly commended and reviewed by major academic journals. He is considered one of the leading experts on Salafism, radical Islam, and U.S.-Arab-Israeli relations. He earned a doctoral degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. In May 2012, he was conferred with an honorary doctoral degree in humanities from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and in 2022 he won the FAU Scholar of the Year award. He is a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. "Incomparable! "Always a delightful learning experience." - OLLI Patron

    Lifelong Learning Professorship of Current Affairs, 2018-19
    Lifelong Learning Professorship of Current Affairs, 2012-13
    Recipient of the 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award