Chinese President Xi Jin Ping traveled to Moscow this week to meet up with Russian leader, while the war in Ukraine continues. Both leaders sat down and exchanged views, regarding mutual economic and political benefits. Meanwhile, America has been worried about the newly established economic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which was also brokered by China. What is China trying to accomplish in the Middle East? Will China's charm outweigh the charisma of the US? Will Putin stop his military planning?

Dr.Kristian Coates Ulrichsen is the Fellow for the Middle East at Rice

University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His research spans the

history, political and international political economy, and

international relations of the Gulf States and their changing position

within the global order. Coates Ulrichsen is the author of five

monographs and the editor of three volumes about the Gulf States,

including Insecure Gulf: The End of Certainty and the Transition to

the Post-Oil Era 2011), The United Arab Emirates: Power, Politics, and

Policymaking (2016), and, most recently, Qatar and the Gulf Crisis

(Oxford University Press, 2020).