The Middle East Institute is pleased to host Dr. Thomas O'Donnell,
lecturer in Graduate International Affairs at the New School in New
York, for a discussion on China's perception of the Iranian nuclear
issue. Drawing on his expertise in the global energy system, Dr.
O'Donnell will examine why Beijing, which was initially and very
vocally opposed to UN sanctions, ended up voting in favor of them. He
will outline the energy-security nexus underlying China's interests in
Iran and America's opposition to Iran's increased regional
power-projection capability, nuclear or otherwise. Paradoxically,
China's approach to energy security via-a-vis Iran and its other major
energy suppliers both clashes and coincides with U.S. interests in
maintaining a secure global market-centered oil system. Dr. O'Donnell
will close by reflecting on how these energy realities and their
differential constraints on U.S., Chinese and Iranian interests might
open the door for a multi-lateral solution to the Iranian nuclear
question.
