The Failure of the “Economic Peace” Model in the Middle East

Economic peace illustration

On September 26, 2021, Israel’s then Prime Minister Naftali Bennet took the podium at the UN General Assembly and laid out a grand vision for the Middle East. It was a modernist, advanced, technological future (as befitted Bennet, a former high-tech entrepreneur) in which Israel would play a major role – focused upon a world […]

China’s Influence in the Middle East and the Strategic Considerations Underlying it

Photo credit: Shutterstock

The difficulty in comparing America’s and China’s influence in the Middle East is that the two operate on entirely different planes. [Note: The Chinese use the term Western Asia, rather than the Middle East, to refer to a region that includes the Levant, Iraq, the Gulf, Turkey and Iran.] Despite China’s impressive naval construction program, China […]

Growing Asian Ties to the Gulf and Potential for Strategic Cooperation

India’s PM Modi, Japan’s PM Kishida, China’s President Xi and Korea’s President Yoon each visited the Gulf recently. Photos credit: Hamad Al Kaabi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS, Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS, Mohamed Al Hammadi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Indian Prime Minister Modi each made a trip recently to Arab countries of the Gulf. In July, Kishida visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar while Modi was in the UAE. Yoon visited the UAE in January. These three trips received far […]