Why can’t US and China jointly seek Middle East peace and still compete?
- Although they support rival camps and pursue divergent geopolitical games, the US and China are also working for the same thing: the region’s security and stability
- Jostling for influence in the region should not stop the two from working together for peace
Wang appreciated Iran’s good neighbourliness and has also reached out to Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, assuring him of China’s commitment to work with regional countries to prevent further escalation.
Up till now, US and Chinese diplomatic efforts around the Middle East crisis have shown that they are poles apart, supporting rival camps and pursuing divergent geopolitical games. But if they think outside their geopolitical confrontation, they will find that they are working for shared interests in the region: security and stability.
For one, neither country wants an unstable Middle East. It strains US military resources and diplomatic capital in ways that goes against its strategic interests regarding containing China and Russia. It also increases pressure on Beijing to take a leadership role in both diplomatic and military terms to resolve the crises.
Secondly, neither country wants its military forces involved in the Middle East beyond what is necessary for their primary interests. Washington’s armed forces and strategic assets are primarily deployed in the western Pacific.
Therefore, the western Pacific is the primary theatre of their military engagement and potential war.
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Three, for the above reasons, China and the United States share an interest in helping Middle Eastern states take up the charge of the region’s security. Washington’s plan is to continue to invest in and bolster the defence of Israel and the Arab partners while integrating their defence architecture with the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
But what Arab states want is a formal security guarantee from America, like those given to Japan and South Korea. Recent attacks from Iran and its proxies showed that the US did not adequately defend its Arab partners against adversary attacks.
Four, Beijing and Washington have helped with reconciliation in the Middle East, although they differ in their methods and goals.
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All this shows that Washington and Beijing can also work together to achieve the security and stability of the Middle East – even as they compete for geopolitical influence.
Riaz Khokhar is an MA political science candidate at the University of Gothenburg