New Geopolitics Research

New Geopolitics Research

The Changing Geopolitical Landscape: US-China Rivalry and Its Implications for the Middle East

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Phd Student, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, University of IslamicAzad,Rafsanjan,, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Political science, Faculty of Law, University of Islamic Azad,Rafsanjan, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor: Department of Political science, Faculty of Law,University of Islamic Azad,Rafsanjan, Iran.
Abstract
The strategic Rivalry between the United States and China, which has taken a more serious form since the beginning of the second decade of the new millennium, has made the United States focus on the Pacific region. This American approach has caused the Middle East to face multi-layered disorder and the long-term transition period has become a prominent feature of the region. The approach taken by the United States of America to mobilize resources to the east will aim to counter the plans of big communication lines such as the Belt and Road initiative that passes through the Middle East. According to these developments, questions are raised as follows: To what extent will the policy of the United States and China in the Middle East undergo changes? And what effects will this competition have on the region? In case of polarization between these two powers, what opportunities and challenges will the countries of the region face, and what options will the countries of the region face? The main hypothesis of this research is that the increase in competition between China and the United States has caused the expansion of the conflict and the mystery of security as well as the increased competition and multi-layered strategic confusion in the region, and has increased tensions. The method used to conduct this research is a qualitative method with a descriptive-analytical approach, and library and internet sources were used to collect data.
Keywords

Altin H. (2022). A genuine blend of statecrafts: China’s smart power strategy in the MENA region. World Affairs, 185(3), 557–586.
American Enterprise Institute,) China Global Investment Tracker, (2020), Worldwide Chinese Investments and Construction (2005-2020).  Accessed 10, Apr, 2022 https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/antiiran-alliance-emerging-middle-east.
Brown R. (2017 June 6). Beijing’s Silk Road goes digital. Council on Foreign Relations Asia Unbound Blog. https://www.cfr.org/blog/beijings-silk-road-goes-digital.
Buzan, B & Wæver, O 2003, Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom.
Cau E. (2018). Geopolitical implications of the Belt and Road initiative: The backbone for a new world order? Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations, 4(1), 39–105.
Brewster, D 2017, Silk roads and strings of pearls: de strategic geography of China’s new pathways in the Indian Ocean, Geopolitics, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 269-291.
Chas W. Freeman, J(2021)., The United States, the Middle East, and China, The Middle East Policy Council, accessed Apr,19, 2021, https://www.mei.edu/publications/iranian-saudi-detente-and-asianization-persian-gulfchina-fills-gap.
Carlstrom, G. (2024). The Power Vacuum in the Middle East A Region Where No One’sin Charge, Foreignaffairs(2023) Mar. 6, At: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middleeast/power-vacuum-middle-east
Cheney C (2020). “The belt and road initiative and U.S. sanctions: pushing Iran into China’s sphere of influence” Foreign Policy News, 29 October. Available at: http://foreignpolicynews.org/2020/10/29/the-belt-and-road-initiative-and-u-s-sanctions-pushing-iran-into-chinas-sphere-ofinfluence/ (accessed 23 May 2020).
Count, I. B. (2024). Database of Civilian deaths from violence. Iraq Body Count. Retrieved6/27/2024 from https://www.iraqbodycount.org/database.
Dorraj, M. (2020). The Belt and Road Initiative and China’s Relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia: A Delicate Balancing Act. In A. Chong & Q. M. Pham (Eds.), Critical Refections on China’s Belt & Road Initiative (pp. 125–138). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2098-9_7.
Diao, H. (2024). The Impact of the China-US Competition in East Asia on the Security
of the Asia-Pacific Region. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Social Psychology and Humanity Studies. The University of Melbourne.
Freeman, J (2018)., The United States, the Middle East, and China, The Middle East Policy Council. https://bit.ly/3sufey.
Davison, RH 1960, 'Where Is the Middle East?', Foreign Affairs, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 665-75Freedom House 2018, Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights & Civil Liberties, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC., viewed 11 Aug 2021, https://freedomhouse.org/sites/ default/files/2020- 02/FreedomintheWorld2018COMPLETEBOOK.pdf.
Hong, C. (2023). »China calls for vigilance as NATO extends reach«, China dialy, Available at: IMF, Direction of Trade statistics (DOTS), Exports and Imports by Areas and Countries, Middle East,2020. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202302/16/WS63ed843aa31057c47ebaf136.html, 2023/02/16.
Harrison, R. (2021). Cooperation: The Gordian Knot, “Stepping A Way From The Abyss: A Gradual Approach Towards a New Security System in the Persian Gulf.
Hashemi, N & Postel, D 2017, 'Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East',The Review of Faith & International Affairs, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1-13.
IMF (2020), Direction of Trade statistics (DOTS), Exports and Imports by Areas and Countries, Middle East, 2020. Competition Power Great of Manipulation the and East Middle The (2022) .Jon, H-202264competitionpower-great-manipulation-and-east-middle/feature/org.nationalinterest://https: at.Interest N.
Jingdong Ouyang (2019) "China's Belt and Road Initiative in West Asia and the US Response"& International Affairs, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1-13.
Jamshidi, Mohammad, Yazdanshenas, Zakieh, (2019), “The Strategy of Turning to Asia; The Rise of China and the National Security Policy of the United States in East Asia”, Bi-Quarterly Journal of Political Science, Year 16, Issue 1, (31 Consecutive), Spring and Summer 2019, pp. 91-116. [in persian].
Koch, B & Stivachtis, YA 2019, 'Introducing Regional Security in the Middle East', E- International Relations, pp. 1-11.
Keshwarian Azad, Mohsen and Mirtorabi, Seyed Saeed (2014). "The Biden Administration and the Policy of Containing China's Rise in Power in the Indo-Pacific Region", Foreign Policy Quarterly, Year 36, No. 1, Spring. [in persian].
Li, M. (2020). The Belt and Road Initiative: geo-economics and Indo-Pacific security competition. International Affairs, 96(1), pp. 169-187. doi:10.1093/ia/iiz240.
Levinson, MH 2011, 'Mapping the Persian Gulf Naming Dispute', A Review of General Semantics, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 279-87.
Luigi Narbone & Abdolrasool Divsallar(2024) European University Institute (EUI). Hanau Santini, R., & Wulzer, P. (2024). The Evolution of the Gulf: History and Theories of aComplex Subregional System. Middle East Policy, 31(1), 33-49.
Marks, J. J. M. E. I. (2022). China’s Evolving Confict Mediation in the Middle East
Marshall, T 2015, 'The Middle East', in T Marshall (ed.), Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World, Elliott and Thompsom Limited London, pp. 119-51.
Mezrag, A & Draghi, H 2020, 'The dichotomy of the State and society in the Arab political sphere: Theoretical Discussions', Arab Future, no. 502, pp. 7-24.
Oprysko, Caitlin (2020). “'NATO plus ME': Trump proposes NATO expansion into Middle East”, Available at: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/09/trump-nato-expansion-proposal-096772, (Accessed on: 23/01/2023).
Reeves J (2018). “China’s Silk Road Economic Belt initiative: network and influence formation in Central Asia”, Journal of Contemporary China 27(112): 502–518.
Roshan, Amir, & Faraji, Mohammad Reza. (2017). India-China Relations. Quarterly Journal of Foreign Relations, 9(2), 223-258. [in persian
Singh,M(2024). China and the United States in the Middle East: Between Dependency and Rivalry, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, (Sep 10, 2024), accessed 1 Apr,19, 2024.
Shayan, F 2017, Security in the Persian Gulf Region, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, London.
Shafiei, Nozar, & Faraji Nasiri, Shahriar. (2014). Political-Security Arrangements in South Asia and Its Impact on National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Crisis Studies of the Islamic World, 1(1), 9-31. doi: 10.2783.4999/QJPR.2011.1101.012. [in persian].
Statista (2019). Direct investment position of the United States in the Middle East from 2000 to 2019, Accessed 10 Apr, 2021. https://www.mei.edu/publications/iranian-saudi-detente-and-asianization-persian-gulfchina-fills-gap.
Swain, M 2018, A counterproductive Cold War with China, Foreign Afairs, March 2, retrieved 3 June 2018, https://www.foreignaairs.com/articles/chi-na/2018-03-02/counterproductive-cold-war-china.
T.V. Paul (2019). "When the Balance of Power Intersects with Globalization: China, the United States, and the Small States of West Asia." Asian Politics & Policy, 11(4), 479–500. https://doi.org/10.1111/aspp.12558.
Taghavi Nejad Seyed Reza, "(1400) Square Alliance: Asian NATO to Contain China in the Indo-Pacific," Quarterly Journal of International Relations Research, Issue 3, November 1400, 147-178. [in persian].
Xian, Q and Fulton, J 2017, China-Gulf economic relationship under the “Belt and Road” initiative, Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 12-21.
Xinhua. (2019, December 02). China, Iran hold consultation on Iran nuclear issue. Beijing. Retrieved March 29, 2020, from http://english.www.go.
Vihma, A. (2018). Geoeconomic Analysis and the Limits of CriticalGeopolitics: A New Engagement with EdwardLuttwak. Geopolitics, 23(1), pp. 1-21. doi:10.1080/14650045.2017.1302928.
Zhang, L. (2018). The internationalisationof China's financial sector. In Z. Jin, & L. Zhang, China and the World Economy: Transition and Chellenges (p. Abingdon). 183-196: Routledg.
Zraick, K 2016, Persian (or Arabian) Gulf Is an Object of Regional Rivalries, The New York Times, viewed 20 Aug 2021, <https://link-gale- com.ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/apps/doc/A439705647/ ITOF?u=flinders&sid=bookmark- ITOF&xid=bec98b12.>