London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Since returning to office in January, US President Donald Trump has reinstated the maximum pressure campaign of his first administration on Iran. Trump wants to push Iran into ending its nuclear programme, and the White House has tried to severely curtail Iran’s oil exports as way of putting […]
How Trump’s Tariffs are driving Asia and the Gulf into China’s Arms
London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – US President Donald Trump’s America First trade policy has seen the global economy enter a new era of protectionism in the two months since he took office. The US leader has embarked on a series of trade wars with countries that run trade deficits with the US, including […]
China’s Green Energy Wave enters the Middle East
London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Facing rising trade barriers and diplomatic tensions with the US and the EU, Chinese renewable energy companies are turning to Middle Eastern states as an alternative market for goods including electric vehicles (EVs), lithium-ion batteries, and solar panels. The US, the EU and Canada have all imposed tariffs […]
Mideast AI: Saudi, UAE Chip imports from US imperiled by Their Close China Ties
London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Efforts by Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to join the race for artificial intelligence could be hindered by US opposition to China’s growing footprint in the region. US President Joe Biden and his administration appear concerned that rising Chinese influence in […]
Why did China attend MBS’s Ukraine Peace Conference in Saudi Arabia? Breaking with Moscow or Keeping Options Open?
London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – China has come out in favour of a third round of talks to design a peace framework for the conflict in Ukraine following its attendance at an international forum in the Saudi city of Jeddah earlier this month. China’s attendance and active participation in the summit was seen […]
Will China Leapfrog America in the Middle East Using its Green Technology and EVs?
Over the past decade, since Xi Jinping became the General-Secretary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012, he has accelerated China’s return to political prominence. In turn, China’s ambitious global programme of economic, diplomatic and political expansion has pushed the world back towards a state of multipolarity. As well as developing China’s domestic […]
Dragon Waiting: After Idlib, Will Beijing Bring Syria into its One Belt Network?
As speculation grows that the Syrian army under the regime of Bashar al-Assad is preparing to strike at the Idlib de-escalation zone, the last piece of Syrian territory with a significant rebel presence left active, it seems as if the brutal civil there is at last drawing to a bloody conclusion. Like Iraq, Syria may […]
Is China Stealing a March on Trump in Pakistan amid New Trade War?
The outbreak of tit-for-tat tariffs means the US-Sino confrontation now embraces both the military sphere in the South China Sea and over Taiwan
The Dragon and the Lion: How China will Win Big from Trump’s Scrapping of Iran Deal
Pushing Iran into China’s waiting arms was unlikely to have been a major US policy goal in the Middle East
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