Episode

Iran, China, and the New Middle East | Ahmed Aboudouh from Chatham House

Podcast: Secrets and Spies Podcast: Espionage | Global Issues | Current Affairs
Published: Jun 11, 2026
Duration seconds: 2917
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Summary

Ahmed Aboudouh from Chatham House joins Chris to assess the shifting power dynamics of the Middle East, arguing that China has no coherent regional strategy and that Arab states want a normalised Iran rather than a weakened one. With the Abraham Accords effectively dead, he warns that the US faces a paradox of its own making — deeper military entanglement and eroding strategic credibility — while the war looks set to intensify multi-alignment rather than force a binary choice between Washington and Beijing.