‘Rethinking the Middle East as West Asia’ Beijing Workshop January 13 – 14th 2024

This workshop was held as part of a follow up to the 'Mapping Connections: China and Contemporary Development in the Middle East' Beirut workshop of 14-15th January 2023. It was organised in collaboration with the Centre for West Asia and North Africa Studies at the Institute of International and Area Studies, Tsinghua University (IIAS) and the Arab Council of Social Sciences, (ACSS) Beirut. The event was hosted by our colleagues at IIAS in their newly completed offices, and for several participants this was a first visit to China.

Thirty-two people attended the workshop from across the world, including leading scholars of the region from China, the US, UK, the UAE, Australia, and Lebanon. Under the remit of ‘Rethinking the Middle East as West Asia’, a wide-ranging discussion took place around the new (and old) connections between China, East Asia, and the Middle East, and the implications of these for our understanding of the region. Some of the topics discussed included:

·         The meaning and utility of ‘West Asia’ as an analytical term for the study of the region.

·         The new dynamics of energy, logistics, and finance emerging between the Middle East and East Asia.

·         Decolonizing Islam and the relevance of Islamic legal categories to area studies.

·         China’s changing connections to the Gulf region, including migration, aid, and volunteerism.

·         The challenges of building a transnational network of scholars engaged in the study of wider Asia.

Twenty-two papers were submitted in draft form and presented for discussion and feedback during the workshop. These will be finalised, collated, and published in book form in the coming months.

In addition to the workshop two special lectures were scheduled and attended by a wide public audience:  

January 15th: Dr. Seteney Shami (ACSS): “Building Social Science Research Capacities in the Global South: Challenges and Opportunities” Chaired by Dr. Li Yuqing (Tsinghua University). Sponsored by Centre for Global Issues, IIAS, Tsinghua University.

January 16th: Professor Zachary Lockman (NYU): “Rethinking the Study of the Middle East in a Time of Global Crisis” Chaired by Dr. Duan Jiuzhou (Tsinghua University). Sponsored by Centre for West Asia and North Africa, IIAS, Tsinghua University.