By Matthew Mai
What can the United States learn from the recent diplomatic maneuvers driving change in the Middle East? The Chinese-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, accelerating regional normalization with Syria, and the Yemeni peace process all demonstrate how adversaries can reach a modus vivendi to accommodate each other's interests. While some analysts fear that China is displacing the United States as the region's preferred great power partner, or Syria's readmittance to the Arab League excuses the Bashar al-Assad regime's human rights abuses, the reality is these schemes reflect the independent, nonaligned foreign policies now characteristic of middle powers in a multipolar world.
This piece was originally published in Newsweek on May 12, 2023. Read more HERE.