What China did between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran in terms of diplomatic mediation is a natural thing that all countries of the world do, and perhaps the latest of which is what the brothers in the Sultanate of Oman are doing between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, while recognizing the difference in the complexities of the crisis between the two parties, and before that between Washington and Tehran, but why was the success of mediation Chinese interest and follow-up of observers in the world?
The attention of observers increased from the Chinese political action after the visit of French President Macron to China, as if he was announcing a European and Western break with regard to an Arab political position that began to take shape towards China in its international rise, so the question began to be asked publicly: Is China filling the American strategic void in the region? Or is the world taking a bigger step towards the formation of a new world order? Will China be a party to it, or is it a multipolar system with the return of European independence to Charles de Gaulle's grandson "Macron"?
China and its long silence was confusing to the United States, and its current political move, which declared its political ambition that goes beyond the commercial and economic aspects, especially in the Middle East region, and presented itself as a guarantor of mediations between those who differ in it, doubled that American confusion, which some see as a motive for a delegation from The US Congress represents Republicans and Democrats with a visit to Riyadh.
In contrast to these questions, there are many questions on the other side, including: Has the American role in the region really declined? And if the answer is yes, will the United States agree to leave an important, sensitive and vital region with an influential geostrategic location in politics and international relations to others, especially since the competing alternative is not Western? Is what is happening in terms of international interactions really a stage in the formation of the new world order? We mention the Chinese and Russian presence in the African continent, which is welcomed by Africans.
If we wanted to answer these questions, the decline of the American role in the region was part of the strategy of former US President Barack Obama, but the American administrations quickly discovered that the matter was not that well-studied strategic planning, which was expected from the state of reassurance of the Chinese conviction to focus on the economic aspect only Therefore, the American moves carry a desire to realize what might happen before losing everything.
Rather, there have become preconditions for the United States, if it wants to remain the influential and active superpower in the region, including that it rebuild trust and deal with realism and credibility with the countries of the region. Because most of its decisions to back down were due to the loss of the American strategic vision, goals and future plans for the region or the international challenges, foremost of which comes the Ukrainian war, and we add to it the internal challenges that the United States may not have witnessed since its ascension to the throne of the unipolar international system since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The United States will remain the most present country in the region for various reasons, but not as it was. It will not accept to give up its role or even accept that others fill the void, especially if the one who aspires to inherit it is China, which many influencers in American decision-making circles see as a strategic threat to The United States, as they see it (i.e. China) as having the determination and serious desire to change the balance of power in the global system so that it is a multipolar world order.
China, which adopts the principle of "non-interference in the internal affairs of states", is no longer ignorant of its global movements, especially after the renewal of President Chi Bing Ying. Talk should not focus on Chinese economic ambitions, as the political orientation and entry into complex regional issues are recording diplomatic successes.
Abdulaziz Sultan Al Maamari
