China, the United States, and the Middle East: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the Triangular Relationship

October 30 – 31, 2007

Over the next two decades, the rising strategic importance of Middle Eastern resources to China, and the continued importance of the Middle East to the United States, suggest that the Middle East will emerge either as a key zone of strategic cooperation or one of rivalry and conflict between the United States and China. While China is unlikely to threaten directly U.S. energy supplies, the emergence of a Sino-American rivalry in the Middle East could be costly not only for the United States and China, but the Middle East as well.

 

The conference assembled a group of leading strategic thinkers and experts from China, the United States, and the Middle East for two days of deliberations. Panel discussions concentrated on the military, strategic, economic, and political trends influenced by China’s rise, and the likely responses of the United States and Middle Eastern governments to that rise.