BOOK TALK: CHINA’S MIDDLE EAST MATH - Join the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative for a discussion with Nonresident Senior Fellow and China-MENA expert Jonathan Fulton about his new book, Building the Belt and Road Initiative in the Arab World: China’s Middle East math.

The book provides an in-depth analysis of the expansion of Chinese power and influence in the Middle East and North Africa through Belt and Road Initiative projects undertaken in what Fulton has dubbed a “1+2+3 cooperation pattern.”

Fulton will discuss this framework, which categorizes China’s projects into three buckets: energy; infrastructure, trade, and investment; and nuclear energy, space satellites, and renewable energy. Fulton will explore what these projects indicate about the trajectory of China’s presence in the region and which states or subregions are most important for Beijing’s regional ambitions—and which sectors are being developed.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 08/27/2025