Mohammadreza Mohammadi
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Power Without Commitment: China’s Geopolitical Constraints in the Middle East
In recent years, China has sought to portray itself in the Middle East as a power fundamentally different from the West—one that emphasizes trade, investment, diplomacy, and respect for state sovereignty rather than military intervention. This image was reinforced following Beijing’s mediation of the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement. Yet the security crises…
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China’s Geopolitical Blind Spot: Why Beijing Can’t Navigate the New Middle East
China’s growing economic footprint in the Middle East has not been matched by a corresponding geopolitical strategy capable of navigating the region’s persistent security dilemmas. In fact, Beijing’s adherence to non-intervention, quasi-mediatory diplomacy, and strategic risk aversion has constrained its ability to shape regional outcomes, ultimately limiting its influence at…
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Competition in the Ocean: China’s Vertical Expansion and India’s Horizontal Dominance
As China deepens its strategic footprint through vertical port development and energy corridors, India counters with a horizontally expansive maritime network rooted in historical connectivity. Both powers have increasingly prioritized the Indian Ocean as a geopolitical landscape, where ancient trade routes meet modern rivalries. In their ancient maritime treatises, “Bahr…
