ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Polit. Sci.
Sec. International Studies
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpos.2025.1607870
This article is part of the Research TopicGeopolitical Transition and Competition Among Major Global Power Centers: Existential Security Challenges and Regional ConflictsView all 4 articles
Beyond Power Transition Theory: Explaining the Absence of US-China Power Shift in the Middle East
Provisionally accepted
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
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The paper examines the power dynamics between China and the United States in the Middle East, arguing that there is no power transition in the region. First, the balance of power between these two countries in the region remains unchanged despite the decreasing involvement of the United States and the growing presence of China. Second, major regional leaders are steadily increasing their presence and trying to govern the region by themselves. Third, satisfied with the existing governing framework in the Middle East at the dyadic level, China has no desire to augment its engagement and replace the US in the region. The incongruity between China's ideological frameworks and its progressively assertive approach to foreign policy further hinders its potential to emerge as a regional leader.
Keywords: power transition1, Middle East2, Sino-US relations3, regional leadership4, strategic satisfaction5
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 29 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yueting Zhao, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
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