What the Iran War Means for China and the Global Order | The High Top

In this episode of The High Top, Edgard Kagan, Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies, joins Jon B. Alterman, Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, to examine how China is reading the U.S.-Iran war. Their conversation unpacks China's economic exposure to the Strait of Hormuz, what Chinese strategists are learning about U.S. military power, and how the conflict is reshaping their thinking about the global order.  

Beijing has long called for a multipolar world but has been unwilling to bear the burdens of being a true global power. At the same time, the war has shaken some of the foundational principles of the post–World War II order. As the country that has arguably benefited most from that order over the past 30 years, China watches a major shift it is not driving with real concern, even as some in Beijing welcome an outcome that distracts the U.S. from the Indo-Pacific.  

To explore how China sees the Iran war and what it means for the global order, tune into Jon and Edgard's full conversation.

This event is made possible through general support to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.