MIDDLE EAST HISTORY POLITICS CULTURE XIII MIDDLE EAST XIII | Page 181

and funds for investments. In this connection, they could reduce
the deficit in the Chinese balance of payments;
 Military sphere: the Middle Eastern states became the largest
customers for Chinese military equipment and arms. The returns
of unprecedented amounts of precious hard currency by these
sales, accessibility to advanced military technologies and intelli-
gence, also the significant experience gained during battlefield
operations appeared to be extensively useful facts for China’s
defense modernization. 21
During the Cold War period the PRC in some degree was disengaged
from the Middle East. China had a small presence in the region in comparison
with that of two superpowers. Nevertheless, by the 1980s, the PRC gained
significant influence here by enlarging its activities. Beijing gradually became
ready to compete with the Soviet Union and the United States, and it
succeeded in achieving more internationally responsible recognition in world
politics. 22
Actually, China still remains a developing country with a large
dependence on Western economies, capital and technology. Beijing’s foreign
policy is not as dependent as Chinese would like to see. Anyway, China
would inevitably continue its efforts for ensuring the country’s future
development and prosperity. Political, economic or religious confrontation
between states and the various tides of history often lead states not to peace,
but to global instability. There are views, that the Communists understand
history better than democratic Western politicians, because Marxism always
claimed about the importance of taking history more seriously. Self-deception
in some cases prevails in the Western World, and few look back to history
trying to learn anything from the past. Indeed, certain patterns can repeat
again and again. Although the past and the present are sometimes viewed as
21 Neill A., China and the Middle East, Adelphi Series 447 (8), 2014, p. 87.
https://www.iiss.org/en/publications/adelphi/by%20year/2014-de9e/middle-eastern-
security--the-us-pivot-and-the-rise-of-isis-ab65/ap447-448-11-neill-e1c6
22 Scobell A., Nader A., China in the Middle East: The Wary Dragon, RAND Corp.,
Santa Monica, Calif., 2016, p. 4. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/
research_reports/RR1200/RR1229/RAND_RR1229.pdf
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