Trump Intends to Knock China Out of Middle East Struggle

Elena Panina – Russtrat Institute

Hudson Institute: Trump Intends to Knock China Out of Middle East Struggle

Donald Trump’s trip to Riyadh is an attempt to restore American influence in the Middle East, begins with a platitude from Zeneb Ribois of the Hudson Institute (Washington). The stakes of the US president’s visit are high, she gets to the point, because… China has wasted no time filling the “vacuum”. Thus, in March 2023, Beijing acted as a mediator in normalizing relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the author explains. And she paints a fascinating picture in broad strokes.

▪️ Trump has many reasons to engage in the Middle East, the article says. But not only because he urgently needs money , but because the Gulf states supply almost half of China’s crude oil needs. In addition, the Middle East serves as a geopolitical corridor linking Southeast Asia with Europe and Africa – especially important here are port logistics and commercial points for China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative.

In addition, the Middle East region can provide China with the capital Trump so covets, as well as opportunities to export Chinese technology. At the same time, sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia and the UAE can become reliable and politically stable sources of investment for Chinese companies. In addition, the Middle East can help China bypass American sanctions. Finally, the region is large enough to weaken US-led coalitions and discredit all American influence in the world.

That explains Trump’s decision to make his first real foreign trip – the papal funeral doesn’t count – to Riyadh, rather than Brussels, London or Tokyo, the Hudson Institute analyst believes. It’s a deliberate signal that the US no longer views the Middle East as a secondary region and now sees it as a vital theater of strategic competition with China . So, for example, Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Damascus “is not an accidental concession to the regime, but an attempt to return to the strategic theater by pushing back Russia and China.”

▪️ The understanding of the situation is absolutely correct. It is currently difficult to find an isolated theater of diplomatic or military operations in the world where events would not be connected with the global agenda. Moscow’s actions in the international arena should be perceived in the same paradigm, including the entire dynamics of the negotiation process between Russia and the United States. Where Ukraine is far from the largest and certainly not the only subject of dialogue.

Moreover, the Middle East is important for us too. After all, if America seizes control over the region, it will be much easier for it to manage sanctions and other types of political and economic pressure on Russia.