The rise of china and power transformation discussions: Changing power dynamics and Turkey at the begining of the 21st century

This study examines the power struggle between the "East '' and the "West" within the framework of the concept of the power transformation, the rise of China, and the current hegemony of the post-Cold War international order, the USA. It addresses particularly hegemonic debates on China's rise and power transition by applying two mainstream theories of International Relations, idealism and realism. With the rise of China, the International Relations field mostly explains it with Neo-Realism, Neo-Liberalism, Neo-Marxist and even further, Asia-based hegemony and hegemonic struggle. Our aim is to explain the rise of China by using the pessimistic and optimistic arguments within the limitations of IR the theoretical debate. The second part of the study outlines the role of China in IR broadly and specifically focuses on the great power politics, the concept of hegemony, and China's relations with its close neighbors. It also presents a review of the Middle East from regional perspectives and the literature on the China role in the Middle East, especially in its relationship with non-Arab countries. The third part of the study focuses on Turkey as one of the non-Arab Middle Eastern countries that have historical and diplomatic relations with China. The study divides the historical background of China's Middle East policies into four different periods; (i) ideological foreign policy, (ii) search for independent foreign policy, (iii) pragmatist foreign policy and (iv) active pragmatist foreign policy, focusing on China's activism. In this context, relations with Turkey, which is the key country on the middle corridor, is examined because Turkey is so far the most important geo-stratetgic and geo-economic country for China's Belt and Road Project (BRP) in the 21st century. In addition, it searches for questions for whether China's BRP presents Turkey to be a regional power / regional hegemonic power?