This paper examines how China seeks to secure access to an ever growing level of natural resources from overseas. In its quest for resources necessary to fuel its economy, does China seek to bolster the development of international markets, or rather to procure resources in a more mercantilist fashion?

The Asia-Pacific region is now more than ever a priority for China’s foreign policy. The combined economic, energy and security interests concentrated in the region are of key importance for Beijing.

This brief paper analyzes the energy relations between Russia and its “new” energy partnerships – with China and Turkey – that the Kremlin tends to publicly promote as an alternative to energy relations with the West.

This research paper argues that, contrary to what is often believed, most of the Chinese middle class appears to be politically conservative, and may not challenge the current political order as much as is expected, for several reasons; first of all, because of its strong connection to the Communist Party of China and the civil service in broader terms. Nonetheless, Chinese middle households are increasingly voicing their concern about a set of issues directly affecting them, such as pollution, either in the street or online.

The upcoming Paris climate conference (COP21) is opening the door to a new post-2020 climate regime in which China and other large emitters will have to provide strong evidence of their domestic efforts in addressing global warming in the next century.