China’s changing engagement in global peace building and conflict resolution: drivers and trends

Abstract

The study aims at providing an in-depth analysis of the drivers of China’s peace building engagement and examining the interactive nature of the various drivers and factors that played remarkable role in increasing China’s economic rise and leadership in the international system. To approach the study goals, descriptive-analytical method has been employed along with Hudson’s foreign policy analysis through which China’s aims and motivations of engaging in peace building are illustrated. The paper concludes that China seeks to shape its great power leadership and identity where the case studies revealed that China’s economic engagement as part of its peace building efforts is increasingly being driven by Chinese great power status and geostrategic security interests. Simultaneously, as seen in the Darfur War, Myanmar, Mali, South Sudan, and Afghanistan, China’s policy towards conflict zones has undergone a tangible and salient transition from one of avoidance to one of increasing interest and engagement