Speaker: Ambassador Edward Djerejian, former United States Ambassador to Syria and Iran and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Date: July 2012
In the interview, Ambassador Edward Djerejian shares his opinion on the current development in the Middle East and on the bilateral relationship between China and the United States. Ambassador Djerejian used the term “tectonic” to describe the structural and drastic changes happening in the Middle East. He explains that the United States is reacting to events happening in the Middle East on the basis of her two-fold foreign policy: Wilsonian self-determination and national security interest. He also explains that China’s foreign policy in the Middle East is characterized as “commodity-driven”. China and the United States share the common interest keeping peace and stability in the Middle East. He believes that the concepts of “co-evolution” and “principle pragmatism” would be the ideas to develop the bilateral relationship between China and the United States.
Edward Djerejian was the former United States Ambassador to Syria and Israel, Special Assistant to the President, Deputy Press Secretary of Foreign Affairs and was Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
