Great Power Competition During (and After) the Iran War

As the U.S.-Israeli campaign shakes up the Middle East, the world’s major powers are watching closely and maneuvering quickly. China has been forced to balance its relationship with Iran and its deepened economic ties with the Arab Gulf states. Russia has continued supporting Tehran at the practical and rhetorical level while taking advantage of the conflict’s impact on energy markets, potentially reaping more revenue for its own war in Ukraine. And both have used the moment to heavily criticize the United States. Meanwhile, European governments are weighing their energy dependence on the region and their transatlantic obligations against mounting U.S. pressure to take a clearer stand. As Beijing, Moscow, and European capitals navigate the crisis, what do their choices reveal about the future of the global order? What measures should Washington take now to better shape the postwar competition with Russia and China? And how can the United States simultaneously bolster its most important Western allies? To discuss these questions, The Washington Institute is pleased to announce a virtual Policy Forum with Anna Borshchevskaya, Souhire Medini, Henry Tugendhat, and Grant Rumley, moderated by Michael Singh, the Institute’s Lane-Swig Senior Fellow and managing director. Anna Borshchevskaya is the Harold Grinspoon Senior Fellow in the Institute’s Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East, and coauthor of its recent report “After Ukraine: Prospects for a Russian Resurgence in the Middle East.” Souhire Medini is a visiting fellow at the Institute, in residence from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Henry Tugendhat is a Soref Fellow in the Institute’s Glazer Foundation Program, focusing on Chinese activities in North Africa and the Middle East. Grant Rumley is the Institute’s Meisel Family Senior Fellow, director of its Glazer Foundation Program, and a former Middle East policy advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.