Monday, July 24, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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It once was a given that the Persian Gulf states were forever friends with the United States, but now their relationship is stronger than ever with China. While the United States may have once stood as an ideological beacon for freedom and prosperity, it has become clear to powerful foreign allies and adversaries that it doesn’t stand to offer what it once did. The U.S. version of freedom is no longer convincing, particularly to countries with people whose primary goal is to put food on the table. Many will choose a semblance of stability over freedom when given the choice.
Viable economic and military opportunities will win whenever up against lofty and theoretical Western ideals that Western countries don’t necessarily follow.
China is expanding its embassies’ influence throughout the Middle East and North Africa region and, according to intelligence reports, has recently resumed building a military facility in the United Arab Emirates. Since 2012, the UAE has been the world’s third-largest purchaser of U.S. weapons. Middle Eastern countries now see America as just another player among many, and they’re looking after their own interests.
Every day seems to come with another blow to American interests abroad:
• Singapore just signed a defense agreement with China.
• The UAE signed an agreement with China and Hong Kong and withdrew from the agreement with the United States in the Gulf.
• The Chinese-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran marks a re-upping of the alliance between the two countries.
These setbacks to U.S. hegemony on the international stage should not be taken lightly. This is the moment many countries have been waiting for, a prolonged period of weakness in U.S. foreign policy that allows for shifting the metaphorical pieces on the global chess board. China and Russia have been lurking in the shadows, biding their time. They now are seizing the opportunity to weaken U.S. standing and influence worldwide.
The United States is slowly losing ground and is no longer acting as the world’s dominant superpower.
Other emerging superpowers, like China, are demanding to be taken more seriously, especially in the Middle East and North Africa region. The United States must pivot to be in a position to offer tangible benefits and solutions to other countries should we hope to maintain any degree of influence.
Now that China is staunchly allied with some of the world’s richest oil producers and is arguably the new principal influencer, it’s imperative that America reasserts its power and remains a strong ally to these countries. This could be accomplished through security assurances, strengthening economic ties and re-establishing trust — a commodity that can only be restored through legitimate partnering and consistent delivery of promises made. And, most important, reliability over time.
We should definitely not blindly give our allies everything they request. Still, there is a middle ground to be established between accommodating the rational interests of some of those nations and making sure we remain true to our ideals.
China is entering the playing field with an intelligent strategy to unite these countries while simultaneously investing in all of them. It is building alliances where the United States did not. Business as usual is no longer an option for American foreign policy.
The sales pitch for freedom and the West’s appeal writ large is failing. We need a new strategy, and we need it now.
By boldly investing in the future of the United States, we can re-legitimize and reinvigorate the spirit of American ingenuity and innovation. Since our founding, these principles have not failed, and we need to tap into the relentless nature of the spirit of a country that has prospered against all odds since 1776. Americans would be surprised to wake up one day and find themselves at the bottom of the totem pole, and that’s because, for the past 50 years, America has staked its claim as a force for good. We still have a chance to maintain that, and we must.
Faisal al-Mutar is an expert on Middle East and North Africa geopolitics and founder of the global nonprofit Ideas Beyond Borders. He wrote this for InsideSources.
