Author: Raquel Romero Major: International Business
In May 2019, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Israel. During my time there, I noticed various signs translated in Mandarin Chinese. In our hotel, the signs were in three languages: Hebrew, English, and Mandarin. I found this very strange, mainly because as someone who has studied the Chinese language and culture in college, I never knew about China’s role in the Middle East. When I arrived back to the United States, I began researching, answering the question: why was there so much Chinese influence and people in Israel? From this question, I found my honors research topic.
As an International Business, Asian Studies, and Political Science, triple major, I had various options on what to choose for a thesis topic, but I knew that I wanted a topic that combined all of my majors, and took a more interdisciplinary approach. As I began to narrow my broad topic, I found that the United States has played an important role in Israeli-Sino relations. For my honors thesis, I conducted a case study on Israeli-Sino relations evaluating the role of the United States, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of strengthening relations between Israel and China.
From this research, I learned in depth the complexities of International Relations between Asian countries and how economics affects that. I had learned in my classes that international relations is extremely complicated, but given Israel’s position to pursue a closer relationship with China at the risk of its relationship with the United States, there is not necessarily a win-win situation. Regarding myself, I learned to view situations multifaceted. It is easy to say as a Western that Israel should maintain a strong relationship with the United States, but from the point of view of China, Israel has the opportunity to expand its economy, and its position in Asia. I have a better understanding of the complexities of international relations. This research is important because of the interdisciplinary approach. Understanding and evaluating problems using multiple lenses is important in any given field.
Because my topic is a case study, there was not much that went wrong. The most difficult aspect about my topic is that there is very little research done about Israeli-Sino relations. During one part of my initial research, I looked for articles on the library’s website only to find zero results. It was very difficult finding research, and even harder finding useful research, but in the end, everything came together. My mentor was especially helpful in this aspect. My faculty mentor was the faculty leader of my study abroad, so she understood my topic well. Because of this, she was able to help me find branches within my overarching topic. This helped me better understand what to research, as well as what to focus on. She also suggested attending a conference. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, I was not able to attend. Regardless, I was happy with what I learned and the work that I did. As for next year, I am continuing my education. I am attending the University of Arkansas, pursuing a masters in Economic Analytics.