Research Article
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Year 2021, , 213 - 229, 16.07.2021
https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.960945

Abstract

References

  • Alagöz, Emine Akçadağ. “Blue-Water Navy Program as a part of South Korea’s Hedging Strategy.” Güvenlik Stratejileri 13, no. 25 (2017): 65–97.
  • Al- Saleh, Abdullah R. “Conflict Analysis: Exploring the Role of Kuwait in Mediation in the Middle East.” Master Diss., Portland State University, 2009.
  • Bowen, Wyn, and Matthew Moran. “Iran’s Nuclear Programme: A Case Study in Hedging?” Contemporary Security Policy 35, no.1 (2014): 26–52.
  • Cafiero, Giorgio. “Kuwait’s New Strategy: Pursuing a Partnership with China.” Inside Arabia, October 8, 2018. https://insidearabia.com/kuwait-strategy-pursue-partnership-china/ .
  • Cafiero, Giorgio, and Cinzia Bianco. “Kuwait Looks to Turkey, But Hedges its Bets.” Inside Arabia, November 13, 2018. https://insidearabia.com/kuwait-looks-turkey-but-hedges-bets/ .
  • Chaziza, Mordechai. “China’s Strategic Partnership with Kuwait: New Opportunities for the Belt and Road Initiative.” Contemporary Review of the Middle East 7, no. 4 (2020): 501–19.
  • –––. “Strategic Hedging Partnership: A New Framework for Analyzing Sino–Saudi Relations.” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 9, no. 3 (2015): 441–52.
  • Chan, Steve. Looking for Balance: China, the United States, and Power Balancing in East Asia. California: Stanford University Press, 2013.
  • Crawford, Timothy W. “Preventing Enemy Coalitions: How Wedge Strategies Shape Power Politics.” International Security 35, no.4 (Spring 2011): 155–89.
  • Eberling, George G. China’s Bilateral Relations with Its Principal Oil Suppliers. USA: Lexington Books, 2017.
  • Fusaro, Peter, and Tom James. Energy Hedging in Asia: Market Structure and Trading Opportunites. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
  • Ghafouri, Mahmoud. “China's Policy in the Persian Gulf.” Middle East Policy 16, no. 2 (Summer 2009): 80–92.
  • Goh, Evelyn. Meeting the China Challenge: The U.S. in Southeast Asian Regional Security Strategies. Policy Studies no.16. Washington, DC: East-West Center, 2005.
  • Gresh, Geoffrey F. Gulf Security and the U.S. Military: Regime Survival and the Politics of Basing. California: Stanford University Press, 2015.
  • He, Kai. “Institutional Balancing and International Relations Theory: Economic Interdependence and Balance of Power Strategies in Southeast Asia.” European Journal of International Relations 14, no. 3 (2008): 489–518.
  • –––. “Undermining Adversaries: Unipolarity, Threat Perception and Negative Balancing Strategies after the Cold War.” Security Studies 2, no. 2 (2012): 154–91.
  • Heiran-Nia, Javad, and Somayeh Khomarbaghi. “Turkey and Kuwait: A New Regional Alliance?” Lobelog, October 25, 2018. https://lobelog.com/turkey-and-kuwait-a-new-regional-alliance/ .
  • Hook, Steven W, and Tim Niblock. The United States and the Gulf: Shifting Pressures, Strategies and Alignments. Berlin: Gerlach Press, 2015.
  • Huwaidin, Mohamed Mousa Mohamed Ali Bin. China’s Relations with Arabia and the Gulf 1949-1999. New York&London: Routledge, 2002.
  • Jackson, Van. “Power, Trust, and Network Complexity: Three Logics of Hedging in Asian Security.” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 14, no. 3 (2014): 331–56.
  • Niazi, Khizar. “Kuwait Looks towards the East: Relations with China.” The Middle East Institute Policy Brief No: 26, September 1, 2009. https://www.mei.edu/publications/kuwait-looks-towards-east-relations-china.
  • Karasik, Theodore, and Tristan Ober. “Kuwait and The China-U.S. Geopolitical Rivalry.” Lobelog, January 30, 2019. https://lobelog.com/kuwait-and-the-china-u-s-geopolitical-rivalry/.
  • Koga, Kei. “The Concept of “Hedging” Revisited: The Case of Japan’s Foreign Policy Strategy in East Asia’s Power Shift.” Internaional Studies Review 20, no. 4 (2017): 633–60.
  • Korolev, Alexander. “Russia in the South China Sea: Balancing and Hedging.” Foreign Policy Analysis 15, no. 2 (2019): 263–82.
  • –––. “Systemic Balancing and Regional Hedging: China-Russia Relations.” The Chinese Journal of International Politics 9, no. 4 (2016): 375–97.
  • Kuik, Chwee Cheng. “The Essence of Hedging: Malaysia and Singapore’s Response to a Rising China.” Contemporary Southeast Asia 30, no. 2 (2008): 159–85.
  • Lake, David. “Anarchy, Hierarchy, and the Variety of International Relations.” International Organization 50, no.1 (1996): 1–33.
  • Medeiros, Evan S. “Strategic Hedging and the Future of Asia Pacific Stability.” The Washington Quarterly 29, no. 1 (2005): 145–67.
  • Richter, Thomas. “New Petro-aggression in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia in the Spotlight.” Global Policy 11, no.1 (2020): 93–102.
  • Rieger, René. Saudi Arabian Foreign Relations: Diplomacy and Mediation in Conflict Resolution. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis, 2016.
  • Roy, Dennis. “Southeast Asia and China: Balancing or Bandwagoning.” Contemporary Southeast Asia 27, no. 2 (2005): 305-–22.
  • Salman, Mohammad, and Gustaaf Geeraerts. “Strategic Hedging and China’s Economic Policy in the Middle East.”China Report 51, no. 2 (2015): 102–20.
  • Salman, Mohamed, Moritz A. Pieper, and Gustaaf Geeraerts. “Hedging in the Middle East and China U. S. Competition.” Asian Politics & Policy 7, no. 4 (2015): 575–96.
  • Schweller, Randall L. “Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back In.” International Security 19, no.1 (1994): 72–107.
  • Sim, Li-Chen. “Russia’s Return to the Gulf.” In External Powers and the Gulf Monarchies, edited by Jonathan Fulton and Li-Chen Sim. New York & London: Routledge, 2019.
  • Snyder, Glenn. “The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics.” World Politics 36, no. 4 (1984): 461–95.
  • Telci, Ismail Numan. “Müttefiklikten nüfuz mücadelesine Suudi Arabistan-BAE ilişkileri.” Anadolu Ajansı, February 22, 2021. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/analiz/muttefiklikten-nufuz-mucadelesine-suudi-arabistan-bae-iliskileri/2152733.
  • –––. “Qatar-Gulf Rift: Can Riyadh Be Triumphant?” Al Jazeera, June 9, 2017. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/6/9/qatar-gulf-rift-can-riyadh-be-triumphant.
  • Telci, Ismail Numan, and Omair Anas. “Towards a New Security Architecture in the Gulf?” ORSAM Series on Middle East in Transition, Ankara, September 2020.
  • Tessman, Brock, and Wojtek Wolfe. “Great Powers and Strategic Hedging: The Case of Chinese Energy Security Strategy.” International Studies Review 13, no. 2 (2011): 214–40.
  • Tran, Thi Bich, and Yoichiro Sato. “Vietnam’s Post-Cold War Hedging Strategy: A Changing Mix of Realist and Liberal Ingredients.” Asian Politics & Policy 10, no.1 (2018): 73–99.
  • Walt, Stephen. The Origin of Alliances. Ithaca, NY: Columbia University Press, 1987.
  • Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979.
  • Wolfe, Wojtek M. “China’s Strategic Hedging.” Orbis 57, no. 2 (2013): 300–13.
  • Yoshihara, Toshi, and James R. Holmes. “China’s Energy-Driven Soft Power.” Orbis 52, no.1 (2008): 123–37.

Hedging as a Survival Strategy for Small States: The Case of Kuwait

Year 2021, , 213 - 229, 16.07.2021
https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.960945

Abstract

Strategic hedging has not been studied adequately in Middle Eastern countries. This study is an attempt to include hedging into the analysis of a small state’s foreign policy choices. It contends that the hedging strategy can be applied to small states because of its confrontation at three levels: international, regional and sub-regional. It is argued that Kuwait has pursued a hedging policy by taking possible shifts in the global and regional power distribution and the lasting regional security dilemma into consideration. By strengthening military cooperation with China and Turkey, Kuwait has aimed to hedge the risks that could arise from the rise of China and Turkey in the Gulf, the US’ retrenchment from the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia’s aggressiveness. The main purpose of this strategy is analysed as a move to empower the regional alliance with Turkey, ensuring Kuwait’s security and warding off potential risks from the changing dynamics of the Middle East.

References

  • Alagöz, Emine Akçadağ. “Blue-Water Navy Program as a part of South Korea’s Hedging Strategy.” Güvenlik Stratejileri 13, no. 25 (2017): 65–97.
  • Al- Saleh, Abdullah R. “Conflict Analysis: Exploring the Role of Kuwait in Mediation in the Middle East.” Master Diss., Portland State University, 2009.
  • Bowen, Wyn, and Matthew Moran. “Iran’s Nuclear Programme: A Case Study in Hedging?” Contemporary Security Policy 35, no.1 (2014): 26–52.
  • Cafiero, Giorgio. “Kuwait’s New Strategy: Pursuing a Partnership with China.” Inside Arabia, October 8, 2018. https://insidearabia.com/kuwait-strategy-pursue-partnership-china/ .
  • Cafiero, Giorgio, and Cinzia Bianco. “Kuwait Looks to Turkey, But Hedges its Bets.” Inside Arabia, November 13, 2018. https://insidearabia.com/kuwait-looks-turkey-but-hedges-bets/ .
  • Chaziza, Mordechai. “China’s Strategic Partnership with Kuwait: New Opportunities for the Belt and Road Initiative.” Contemporary Review of the Middle East 7, no. 4 (2020): 501–19.
  • –––. “Strategic Hedging Partnership: A New Framework for Analyzing Sino–Saudi Relations.” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 9, no. 3 (2015): 441–52.
  • Chan, Steve. Looking for Balance: China, the United States, and Power Balancing in East Asia. California: Stanford University Press, 2013.
  • Crawford, Timothy W. “Preventing Enemy Coalitions: How Wedge Strategies Shape Power Politics.” International Security 35, no.4 (Spring 2011): 155–89.
  • Eberling, George G. China’s Bilateral Relations with Its Principal Oil Suppliers. USA: Lexington Books, 2017.
  • Fusaro, Peter, and Tom James. Energy Hedging in Asia: Market Structure and Trading Opportunites. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
  • Ghafouri, Mahmoud. “China's Policy in the Persian Gulf.” Middle East Policy 16, no. 2 (Summer 2009): 80–92.
  • Goh, Evelyn. Meeting the China Challenge: The U.S. in Southeast Asian Regional Security Strategies. Policy Studies no.16. Washington, DC: East-West Center, 2005.
  • Gresh, Geoffrey F. Gulf Security and the U.S. Military: Regime Survival and the Politics of Basing. California: Stanford University Press, 2015.
  • He, Kai. “Institutional Balancing and International Relations Theory: Economic Interdependence and Balance of Power Strategies in Southeast Asia.” European Journal of International Relations 14, no. 3 (2008): 489–518.
  • –––. “Undermining Adversaries: Unipolarity, Threat Perception and Negative Balancing Strategies after the Cold War.” Security Studies 2, no. 2 (2012): 154–91.
  • Heiran-Nia, Javad, and Somayeh Khomarbaghi. “Turkey and Kuwait: A New Regional Alliance?” Lobelog, October 25, 2018. https://lobelog.com/turkey-and-kuwait-a-new-regional-alliance/ .
  • Hook, Steven W, and Tim Niblock. The United States and the Gulf: Shifting Pressures, Strategies and Alignments. Berlin: Gerlach Press, 2015.
  • Huwaidin, Mohamed Mousa Mohamed Ali Bin. China’s Relations with Arabia and the Gulf 1949-1999. New York&London: Routledge, 2002.
  • Jackson, Van. “Power, Trust, and Network Complexity: Three Logics of Hedging in Asian Security.” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 14, no. 3 (2014): 331–56.
  • Niazi, Khizar. “Kuwait Looks towards the East: Relations with China.” The Middle East Institute Policy Brief No: 26, September 1, 2009. https://www.mei.edu/publications/kuwait-looks-towards-east-relations-china.
  • Karasik, Theodore, and Tristan Ober. “Kuwait and The China-U.S. Geopolitical Rivalry.” Lobelog, January 30, 2019. https://lobelog.com/kuwait-and-the-china-u-s-geopolitical-rivalry/.
  • Koga, Kei. “The Concept of “Hedging” Revisited: The Case of Japan’s Foreign Policy Strategy in East Asia’s Power Shift.” Internaional Studies Review 20, no. 4 (2017): 633–60.
  • Korolev, Alexander. “Russia in the South China Sea: Balancing and Hedging.” Foreign Policy Analysis 15, no. 2 (2019): 263–82.
  • –––. “Systemic Balancing and Regional Hedging: China-Russia Relations.” The Chinese Journal of International Politics 9, no. 4 (2016): 375–97.
  • Kuik, Chwee Cheng. “The Essence of Hedging: Malaysia and Singapore’s Response to a Rising China.” Contemporary Southeast Asia 30, no. 2 (2008): 159–85.
  • Lake, David. “Anarchy, Hierarchy, and the Variety of International Relations.” International Organization 50, no.1 (1996): 1–33.
  • Medeiros, Evan S. “Strategic Hedging and the Future of Asia Pacific Stability.” The Washington Quarterly 29, no. 1 (2005): 145–67.
  • Richter, Thomas. “New Petro-aggression in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia in the Spotlight.” Global Policy 11, no.1 (2020): 93–102.
  • Rieger, René. Saudi Arabian Foreign Relations: Diplomacy and Mediation in Conflict Resolution. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis, 2016.
  • Roy, Dennis. “Southeast Asia and China: Balancing or Bandwagoning.” Contemporary Southeast Asia 27, no. 2 (2005): 305-–22.
  • Salman, Mohammad, and Gustaaf Geeraerts. “Strategic Hedging and China’s Economic Policy in the Middle East.”China Report 51, no. 2 (2015): 102–20.
  • Salman, Mohamed, Moritz A. Pieper, and Gustaaf Geeraerts. “Hedging in the Middle East and China U. S. Competition.” Asian Politics & Policy 7, no. 4 (2015): 575–96.
  • Schweller, Randall L. “Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back In.” International Security 19, no.1 (1994): 72–107.
  • Sim, Li-Chen. “Russia’s Return to the Gulf.” In External Powers and the Gulf Monarchies, edited by Jonathan Fulton and Li-Chen Sim. New York & London: Routledge, 2019.
  • Snyder, Glenn. “The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics.” World Politics 36, no. 4 (1984): 461–95.
  • Telci, Ismail Numan. “Müttefiklikten nüfuz mücadelesine Suudi Arabistan-BAE ilişkileri.” Anadolu Ajansı, February 22, 2021. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/analiz/muttefiklikten-nufuz-mucadelesine-suudi-arabistan-bae-iliskileri/2152733.
  • –––. “Qatar-Gulf Rift: Can Riyadh Be Triumphant?” Al Jazeera, June 9, 2017. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/6/9/qatar-gulf-rift-can-riyadh-be-triumphant.
  • Telci, Ismail Numan, and Omair Anas. “Towards a New Security Architecture in the Gulf?” ORSAM Series on Middle East in Transition, Ankara, September 2020.
  • Tessman, Brock, and Wojtek Wolfe. “Great Powers and Strategic Hedging: The Case of Chinese Energy Security Strategy.” International Studies Review 13, no. 2 (2011): 214–40.
  • Tran, Thi Bich, and Yoichiro Sato. “Vietnam’s Post-Cold War Hedging Strategy: A Changing Mix of Realist and Liberal Ingredients.” Asian Politics & Policy 10, no.1 (2018): 73–99.
  • Walt, Stephen. The Origin of Alliances. Ithaca, NY: Columbia University Press, 1987.
  • Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979.
  • Wolfe, Wojtek M. “China’s Strategic Hedging.” Orbis 57, no. 2 (2013): 300–13.
  • Yoshihara, Toshi, and James R. Holmes. “China’s Energy-Driven Soft Power.” Orbis 52, no.1 (2008): 123–37.
There are 45 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects International Relations
Journal Section Articles
Authors

İsmail Numan Telci This is me 0000-0001-8397-8503

Mehmet Rakipoglu This is me 0000-0002-6287-6943

Publication Date July 16, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021

Cite

Chicago Telci, İsmail Numan, and Mehmet Rakipoglu. “Hedging As a Survival Strategy for Small States: The Case of Kuwait”. All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 10, no. 2 (July 2021): 213-29. https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.960945.

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