China has been ramping up its economic, diplomatic and military activities, encouraged by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The United States has always had a complicated relationship with the Middle East. But after years of US military intervention in the region and an ongoing cold war-like relationship between Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) and the Biden Administration, China is stepping in to fill the regional diplomatic role that was once the exclusive domain of United States.
Is the US losing influence in the Middle East? Like the region, the answer is complicated.
“If you just look at Saudi [Arabia], yes. It has changed a lot, especially since MBS has been in power. It used to be just lockstep; they were a sure-thing ally. It’s not like that anymore. It is very unpredictable,” Dr. Melinda McClimans, assistant director of Ohio State University’s Middle East Studies Center and co-author of the book Keys to Understanding the Middle East, told The Media Line.