US-China Competition in the Middle East and North Africa

 The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published on 1 July 2026 an analysis titled "In the Middle East and North Africa, America and China Converge More Than They Diverge" by Amr Hamzawy and Kathryn Selfe.

Competition between the United States and China in the Middle East and North Africa is less a threat and more an opportunity.  The region has important geostrategic significance for both countries.  As great power competition develops globally, Washington and Beijing's positions in the region are increasingly converging.  

The United States and China are united by their primary interest in maintaining free trade in the region.  For both countries, a stable, peace-driven order is key.  Washington is also driven by interest in Israel's security; Beijing is similarly driven by China's need for oil and liquid natural gas.  These two interests are compatible and underscore the need for peace and stability in the region.  

Does East-West Competition Give Africa Agency?

 Nanyang Technological University in Singapore published on 9 December 2021 a commentary titled "Africa Finds Itself in a Position of Advantages as the West Attempts to Blunt China's Influence" by Johan Burger and Amit Jain.  

The authors acknowledge that American and European programs to aid Africa are significantly different than China's Belt and Road Initiative, but still argue that Africa is in a unique position to exercise agency in its dealing with China as well as the West.  

Future of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation

 The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 3 September 2021 an analysis titled "The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation at 21: Where to Next?" by Paul Nantulya.  

The next FOCAC summit occurs this year in Senegal.  FOCAC 2021 takes place in a context of growing questions over how Africa's ruling elites manage their relationships with China.  This is spurring growing calls to overhaul the partnership, including revisiting FOCAC's institutional architecture.  

China-Africa: Not a Colonial Relationship

 The Jamaica Observer published on 31 August 2021 a commentary titled "China and Africa Relations Should Not Be Viewed in Silos" by Shelly Ann Murphy.

The author concluded that while there are significant similarities between China's sourcing of natural resources from Africa and the practices of former colonial powers, numerous key differences give Beijing's activities a different character from that of colonialism.  

Does China Provide African Countries with Agency?

 The South African Institute of International Affairs published in November 2020 a study titled "'China-powered' African Agency and Its Limits: The Case of the DRC 2007-2019" by Johanna Malm.  

China's large initial loan to the DRC gave it China-powered agency from 2007 to 2009 to challenge other external actors.  This agency disappeared during 2010-2019 when the DRC was not able to play external actors off each other.