- US Foreign Policy
- China
- International Affairs
- Security & Defense
- Confronting and Competing with China
In a new episode of China Considered, Elizabeth Economy sits down with Jonathan Fulton to talk about China's role in the Middle East. Recorded just after a ceasefire reopened the Strait of Hormuz, the conversation begins with the war's toll on the region and the sense among Gulf governments that, however reluctantly, they are doubling down on the United States as the only power able to provide security at scale. Fulton argues that China's presence in the region is overwhelmingly economic—energy, trade, infrastructure, surveillance and digital technology—more so than Beijing being a key diplomatic or security actor. The two examine the 2023 Saudi-Iran agreement, questions about a Chinese facility in Abu Dhabi, the role of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and how issues like Xinjiang are received across the Arab world. He discusses where China currently stands relative to the U.S. and other powers in the region and where US and Chinese interests in the region might align.
Recorded on June 15, 2026.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Jonathan Fulton is a nonresident senior fellow for Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs and the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. He also serves as an associate professor of political science at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.
An expert on Chinese policy toward the Middle East, Fulton has written widely on the topic for both academic and popular publications. He is the author of China’s Relations with the Gulf Monarchies and co-editor of External Powers and the Gulf Monarchies.
Fulton received his PhD from the University of Leicester, where his dissertation focused on Chinese relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council member states.
Elizabeth Economy is the Hargrove Senior Fellow and co-director of the Program on the US, China, and the World at the Hoover Institution. From 2021-2023, she took leave from Hoover to serve as the senior advisor for China to the US Secretary of Commerce. Before joining Hoover, she was the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and director, Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of four books on China, including most recently The World According to China (Polity, 2021), and the co-editor of two volumes. She serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the National Committee on US-China Relations. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a book reviewer for Foreign Affairs.
ABOUT THE SERIES
China Considered with Elizabeth Economy is a Hoover Institution podcast series that features in-depth conversations with leading political figures, scholars, and activists from around the world. The series explores the ideas, events, and forces shaping China’s future and its global relationships, offering high-level expertise, clear-eyed analysis, and valuable insights to demystify China’s evolving dynamics and what they may mean for ordinary citizens and key decision-makers across societies, governments, and the private sector.
