China’s new mediating role and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

In recent years, China has been involved in more state-to-state conflicts as a mediator as a part of its increased global influence strategy. After the successful mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March 2023 and the mediation process it has employed between the Taliban and Pakistan since 2022, Beijing will likely continue those efforts in other conflicts. But how does China select which international conflict to mediate? The article employs Kenneth Waltz’s Neorealism Theory and international mediation literature to investigate this question while focusing on China’s interests as a rising power in the international system. First, the article analyzes China’s role and interest in two recent case studies of international conflict mediation: Iran-Saudi Arabia and the Taliban-Pakistan. Second, the article builds a model or a roadmap of China’s mechanism as a mediator. Then, the article employs the model to discuss and assess China’s future role in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in the wake of the 10/07 massacres and the Israel-Hamas war.