Jonathan Fulton
@jonathanfulton.bsky.social
Associate professor of political science at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Nonresident senior fellow at Atlantic Council. Research focuses on China-Middle East relations. Host of The China-MENA Podcast, author of China-MENA Newsletter on Substack.
🎙️ NEW PODCAST: Reassessing China's role in the Middle East @yuyunzhan.bsky.social & @aligarciaherrero.bsky.social sit down with @jonathanfulton.bsky.social to interrogate some persistent assumptions about China's role in the Middle East. #Econsky 🔗 buff.ly/gevqKX8
Reassessing China's role in the Middle East
A complex region, persistent assumptions and the limits of Beijing's ambitions
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📖 Chinese EV brands are adapting to Western trade barriers by increasing their presence in the MENA, challenging Europe's interests in the global EV competition and deepening China's influence in the region. @camillelons.bsky.social @byfordt.bsky.social @jonathanfulton.bsky.social buff.ly/BUMR8Eh
EV endgame: Stalling China’s export surge in Europe’s southern neighbourhood – European Council on Foreign Relations
Chinese electric vehicle brands are adapting to Western trade barriers by increasing their presence in the Middle East and North Africa. Europe’s response must
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📖NEW @ecfr.eu brief by @camillelons.bsky.social, @byfordt.bsky.social & @jonathanfulton.bsky.social: Chinese electric vehicle brands are adapting to Western trade barriers by increasing their presence in the MENA region. Europe's response must go beyond merely closing the loopholes 🧵 buff.ly/desxCDF
EV endgame: Stalling China’s export surge in Europe’s southern neighbourhood – European Council on Foreign Relations
Chinese electric vehicle brands are adapting to Western trade barriers by increasing their presence in the Middle East and North Africa. Europe’s response must
buff.ly
APNewsAlert: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — #Iran issues its own ceasefire proposal, calling for war reparations and sovereignty over Strait of Hormuz.
Caixin: "The China Automobile Dealers Association said in a report that 55.7% of dealerships lost money last year, up 14 percentage points from 2024, as intense competition forced them to sell vehicles below cost." www.caixinglobal.com/2026-03-20/c...
China Auto Dealers Sink Deeper Into Losses Amid Brutal Price War
More than half of dealerships lost money in 2025 as discounting intensified and regulators curbed finance commissions
caixinglobal.com
New by me and Andrew England: Gulf leaders opposed a strike, but they are now caught between wanting the conflict to end and fear that — if Trump suddenly stops — the war will leave a wounded, emboldened and more hardline Iran.
Today, we're publishing Don't Steal This Book - a (mostly) empty book from almost 10,000 authors, protesting the theft of their work by AI companies. 🧵 1/3
They killed 180 children and their teachers in a double-tap strike on a school. The girls were 7 to 12 years old.
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 5mo agoTo strike 1,000 targets in 24 hours in Iran, the U.S. military leveraged the most advanced AI it’s ever used in warfare. Anthropic’s Claude partnered with the military’s Maven Smart System, suggesting targets and issuing precise location coordinates. https://wapo.st/46BFe1T
Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and Iran is to set any ship trying to pass on fire, Iranian media reported. Live updates ➡️ reut.rs/4aK7TEn
Another friend put it to me like this: "ICE has made the classic Nazi mistake. They've invaded a winter people in the winter."
In addition to commentary, today’s post includes a China-Iran reading list and 6 video conversations with experts on the China-Iran relationship: open.substack.com/pub/chinamen...
China and Iranian Protests.
I was on a client call yesterday with an international financial institution and the topic was the protests in Iran.
open.substack.com
Who Can Solve Iran’s Many Problems? Not I, Says the President. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/w...
Who Can Solve Iran’s Many Problems? Not I, Says the President.
nytimes.com
When Wang Yi came to the Gulf the China-GCC FTA was high on his agenda. In my latest column for AGBI I write about why I don't see a FTA any time soon: www.agbi.com/opinion/trad...
Beijing’s Gulf trade charm offensive meets familiar resistance
A GCC-China trade deal (free trade agreement / FTA) promises multilateralism but threatens nascent Gulf manufacturing
agbi.com
The SCO is running Sahand 2025 joint security exercises in Iran. Not to inflate the organizational significance of the SCO, but it does represent a well-timed gift for the Iranian government. chinamenanewsletter.substack.com/p/sco-runs-s...
SCO Runs Sahand 2025 Joint Exercises in Iran
Plus: Syria-Xinjiang analysis, Chinese investment in Egypt's SCZone, ChinaMed analysis on Moroccan FM visit to China, UAE delegation to PRC on education and AI
chinamenanewsletter.substack.com
Up next: Canada First, Not Canada Alone by @asamckercher.bsky.social and @achapnick.bsky.social. One chapter in and really enjoying
In my latest column for AGBI I looked at recent visits to the UAE from South Korean President Lee and Canadian PM Carney. Middle powers in the Middle East: www.agbi.com/opinion/trad...
Visits by Canada and South Korea show the UAE is not all about the superpowers
Visits to the UAE from leaders from Canada and South Korea remind us that there is still room for countries other than the US and China
agbi.com
Highly recommend @edwardluce.bsky.social fantastic bio of Brzezinski. Biography and history done well.
CSIS director outlines security threats posed by Russia, China, Iran, India - National | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/1152323...
Global News | Breaking, Latest News and Video for Canada
Globalnews.ca – Watch and read Canada’s Breaking news plus Business, Health, Politics and World News
globalnews.ca
Just got the hard copy of this latest book for my series. Public Diplomacy between Asia and the Middle East will be useful for a lot you you. Congrats to Francesca Frasseneti, Sook Jong Lee, & Chiara Lovotti for a great contribution.
Next week: AGSI will host a discussion on the trajectory of China's presence in the Middle East with @jonathanfulton.bsky.social and moderated by Robert Mogielnicki. Register today.
Book Talk: Building the Belt and Road Initiative in the Arab World: China's Middle East Math - Arab Gulf States Institute
On September 18, AGSI will host a discussion on the trajectory of China's presence in the Middle East.
agsi.org
