China’s engagement with Africa, Asia, and the Middle East has drawn significant attention from the international community and American policymakers. One understudied dimension of this engagement is China’s expanding space diplomacy in the Middle East. This article examines the scope, drivers, and implications of China’s space initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on original data from 2010 to the present, we map Chinese space-related engagements across the Middle East and conduct in-depth case studies of China’s space diplomacy toward Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. We find that China tailors its space diplomacy by prioritizing influential regional actors with emerging technological capabilities. At the same time, countries in the region are not passive participants in great-power competition. Instead, they are strategic actors who balance their ties with the United States while leveraging opportunities for technological cooperation with China. Our findings highlight the reciprocal and dynamic nature of space diplomacy in a region where developments in this domain will be defined by both global competition and local agency.
School Authors: Robert Daly
Other Authors: Larry Diamond, Orville Schell