Jonathan Fulton, author of China’s Relations with the Gulf Monarchies and a Professor at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, has a great new piece out in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage analysis section on the growing Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) geopolitical and security ties with Asia. My earlier summary piece focused more on the geo-economic ties, and my piece published simultaneously in the Arab News and Asia Times posited an Eastward Shift 2.0.
Jonathan makes a compelling argument that the movement of the global economic center of gravity eastward means an inevitable geopolitical diversification eastward as well.
Why Saudi Arabia Is Turning to Asia
By Jonathan Fulton, The Washington Post (Monkey Cage)
Late last month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) visited Pakistan, India and China. Given the poor state of Saudi-U.S. relations, it is tempting to see this trip as a response to criticism in the United States of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The underlying story of this trip is not about the United States and Saudi Arabia. It is about the ongoing structural shift in geopolitics, as the global economic center of gravity moves east and Asia and the Middle East draw closer together.
Jonathan makes some great points in the piece and he has been a pioneer in the field of exploring China-GCC political and security ties. Read the entire piece here.
And follow Jonathan’s work on Twitter @jonathandfulton
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