China and the Arab Gulf States, post-Covid: Through the Sino-American looking glass

Abstract

Over the past three years China's security and diplomatic engagement in the Middle East has been improvisational and opportunistic, seeking to exploit the US engagement in conflicts in Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine, and Gaza and serving the Chinese aim of using political and diplomatic support in the Middle East to counter what it sees as a US effort to encircle and contain China's power and influence. Yet China is not seeking to replace the US as a regional security provider in the Middle East and the US's traditional security partners in the region—like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but also Egypt and Turkey—are not looking for China to substitute for the US either. Instead, they view China as part of a strategy of multi-alignment, which would allow them to preserve their independence by balancing their relations with Russia, China, and the US.