"energy and ideology"

Submitted by Peter Chew (United States), Sep 12, 2019 at 16:02

I read the MEQ article; the sentence here "Two motives – energy and ideology – explain China's regional ambitions" is in agreement with Berman's "What fuels the PRC's contemporary focus on the Middle East? The answers are both practical and ideological."

I was a little confused what Berman had in mind when he referred to as "ideology". The current article clarifies that it may be understood as simply increasing Chinese power in the Middle East. But I am still wondering, is that really "ideology" or is it just imperialism? To my mind, ideological goals would include the spread of Communism, or Islam... but you think that it's really China's goal to spread Chinese-style Communism in the Middle East?

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