Two cheers for multipolarism: a mediating role for China in Ukraine could benefit all

IN THE aftermath of China’s successful effort to broker a diplomatic deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March, members of the US foreign policy establishment expressed concern that the move challenged America’s hegemonic position in the Middle East.

China’s diplomatic coup ignited a lot of talk in Washington about America “losing the Middle East” and China’s supposed attempt to replace the US as the dominant power in the region. There, the US has been the leading global player since World War II, controlling access to oil resources in the Persian Gulf and managing the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Those fears, in turn, reflected the established wisdom among officials, lawmakers and pundits regarding the evolving geostrategic competition between Washington and Beijing.