China Goes Global 2013 –September 25-27, Bremen, Germany 1 The Impact of Strategic Hedging on the Foreign Politics of Great Powers: The Case of Chinese Energy Strategy in the Middle East. Mohammad Salman* Mohammad.Salman@vub.ac.be Gustaaf Geeraerts** Gustaaf.Geeraerts@vub.ac.be Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies (BICCS) Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium ABSTRACT We present the strategic hedging framework as a way to trace the determinants of the foreign policies of great powers. We use the case of Chinese energy security strategy in the Middle East as an illustrative case study. We first use four criteria to establish that China’s energy security strategy in the Middle East is a strong example of strategic hedging behavior. Then we examine the impact of oil production in the Middle East countries on growth of Chinese economic relationships with these countries. The results of this study show clearly that oil production plays an important role in the Sino-Middle East relations. We find a positive relationship between oil productions in Middle East countries on the one hand and the distribution and growth of China’s trade and investment with these countries on the other hand. These results confirm that strategic hedging behavior leads to develop China's economic relations with the oil producing countries in order to cover its growing needs for energy to support its economic growth. This paper contributes to the support of strategic hedging framework as a new theory in international relations. Keywords: Strategic hedging framework; Chinese energy security strategy; Sino-Middle East relations; Oil production in the Middle East. * Mohammad Salman is Ph.D research fellow at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies (BICCS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is also a teaching assistant at Tishreen University. ** Gustaaf Geeraerts is director of BICCS and Professor of International Relations at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.