The advantage that China has over other global powers, especially America, is that its foreign policy is closely aligned with those of many of the Middle Eastern countries.
Conflict and instability in the Middle East show no signs of abating. Join us for a discussion featuring Paul Haenle, Karim Sadjadpour, and He Wenping on recent developments in China-Middle East relations and their implications for the United States.
The Middle East continues to be an important source of security concerns as well as economic interests for the United States and China, yet the region stands precariously at the edge of conflict.
Fundamentally, it seems irrational to leave an agreement that’s working today out of a fixation on potential growth of Iran’s nuclear program more than a decade from now, when such growth could happen tomorrow if we unravel the agreement.
Increased tensions between the United States and Iran over the last couple days, along with U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls to end the Iran Nuclear Deal, could put Iran on the same path as North Korea as an imminent threat potentially needing military consideration.
If anything were needed to underline how much safer the Iran deal has made the United States, the menace of North Korea’s nuclear development surely qualifies.
The United States has historically had a strong focus on the Middle East. China is also looking to grow its economic engagement in the region, but the two nations have differing approaches to issues like the Iran nuclear deal and the civil war in Syria.
