The China Model's Middle East Appeal

Analyzing Middle Eastern states’ perceptions and emulation of a China model and China’s changing presentation of its model to appeal to target countries.

Today, most Middle Eastern states seek to emulate at least some aspects of China’s model of economic, social, and political organization. China’s path has produced decades of strong economic growth and relative social quiescence under the firm guidance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CSIS Middle East Program seeks to offer timely analysis of how Middle Eastern elites perceive and seek to emulate a China model; what states find both appealing and cautionary about the prospect of seeking to follow the Chinese path; and how China tailors its presentation of what the China model offers to fit the needs and desires of individual target countries. In particular, we will explore how states evaluate the Chinese proposition—both its economic and security aspects—and how they weigh that proposition against the Western commitment to support multilateral architectures for economics and trade, as well as a commitment to assist governments against foreign threats.

Featured Analysis

Photo: PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Photo: PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

Jon Alterman in The Washington Quarterly: China’s US-Driven Middle East Strategy

China does not want to replace the U.S. role in the Middle East. Instead, it wants to increase the costs of its regional presence, diminish its predominance, and benefit from its security efforts to advance Chinese interests and undermine American ones.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — September 18, 2024

Photo: WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

Photo: WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

Jon Alterman in Survival: The ‘China Model’ in the Middle East

Amid regional conflict, the United States continues to play a vital security role in the Middle East. But Arab states seeking to loosen the U.S. grip on the region are also turning to China for a new model of domestic and international governance.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — March 28, 2024

Featured Testimony

Photo: Cameron Glass/CSIS

Photo: Cameron Glass/CSIS

China and the Middle East

China sees the Middle East as the point of the spear of creating a different world which is more mercantilist and less committed to international law and multilateralism.

Congressional Testimony by Jon B. Alterman — April 19, 2024

All The China Model's Middle East Appeal Content

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The Middle East’s View of the “China Model”

China does not seek to replace or outcompete the United States in the Middle East. Instead, China is working to untie the Middle East from the United States and make the region and the world more receptive to China through its model of political and economic development.

Report by Jon B. Alterman — September 19, 2024

Jon Alterman in Survival: The ‘China Model’ in the Middle East

Amid regional conflict, the United States continues to play a vital security role in the Middle East. But Arab states seeking to loosen the U.S. grip on the region are also turning to China for a new model of domestic and international governance.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — March 28, 2024

Chinese and Russian Influence in the Middle East

Dr. Jon B. Alterman, Senior Vice President, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy and Director, Middle East Program, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism.

Congressional Testimony by Jon B. Alterman — May 9, 2019