--By Mohammad Selim, Professor of Political Science, Kuwait University

Abstract

The concept of the Chinese Dream was coined in 2013 by the Communist Party (CPC) General Secretary Xi Jinping. He described the dream as "national rejuvenation, improvement of people's livelihoods, prosperity, construction of a better society and military strengthening. " He stated that young people should "dare to dream, work assiduously to fulfill the dreams and contribute to the revitalization of the nation. " It looks as if the Chinese vision is restricted to the domestic Chinese society. But in fact, the vision of a Chinese Dream has an external component which China has been advocating for the last decade, that is, a world of harmony of civilizations, and a win-win pattern of global relations which was reflected in the corollary concept of world new pattern of great power relations, which in fact, complements the notion of the Chinese Dream. The foreign policy component of the Chinese Dream has major implications regarding the Arab world and its future relations with China, especially as China is increasingly playing a role in Arab and Middle Eastern questions.

In the meantime, Arab peoples and intellectuals have been debating the question of an Arab Dream. In 2012, a group of young singers from different Arab countries, have presented an opera entitled "the Arab Dream, " in which they referred to issues more or less similar to those raised by the Chinese leader but with extra emphasis on questions related to pan-Arabism. The "Arab Spring" also represented for millions of Arabs a new vision of an Arab Dream. However, intervention of foreign powers resulted in steering the spring in directions that were not initially envisioned.

This paper will focus on three main questions; (i) what lessons could be learned by the Arab countries from the concept of the Chinese Dream? Under what conditions can this question be seriously considered in Arab countries? (ii) What are the foreign policy components of the Chinese Dream? and (iii) what are the implications of the Chinese Dream for the Arab world and for future Arab-Chinese relations?

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