# US and China Take Divergent Paths in the New West Asia Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/us-and-china-take-divergent-paths-in-the-new-west-asia Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/us-and-china-take-divergent-paths-in-the-new-west-asia.md Podcast: [The China-Global South Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371) Published: 2026-02-17T04:49:00+00:00 Episode link: https://ea0f0fdd-2944-4ff3-8a00-704e8c67d58b.libsyn.com/us-and-china-take-divergent-paths-in-the-new-west-asia Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/ea0f0fdd-2944-4ff3-8a00-704e8c67d58b/CGSP_02172025_Libsyn.mp3?dest-id=4287628 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/episodes/us-and-china-take-divergent-paths-in-the-new-west-asia Duration seconds: 2713 ## Resource The United States and China are pursuing sharply different strategies in a region that is no longer best understood as the "Middle East," but as part of a broader Asian-centered geopolitical system historically described as "West Asia." This vast region stretches from countries along the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, all the way to the Eastern Mediterranean. While the U.S. remains the undisputed military hegemon in this theater, China is steadily becoming the indispensable economic power, providing access to vast pools of capital, new technology, and expanding trade. Mohammed Soliman, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and a director at the geopolitical advisory firm McLarty Associates, joins Eric from Washington, D.C., to discuss his new book that explores how the U.S., China, and other powers are adapting to this new expanded view of the Middle East known as "West Asia." Purchase the book: West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East by Mohammed Soliman πŸ“Œ Topics covered in this episode: β€’ Why the Middle East is increasingly being reframed as West Asia β€’ China's quiet diplomatic outreach to Israel and the Palestinians β€’ Surging Chinese trade and bank lending in the Gulf β€’ The Asianization of Gulf economies through trade, energy, and demographics β€’ Whether China will translate economic power into military presence β€’ America's role as a resident security power with 50000 troops in the region β€’ Why U.S. grand strategy may require doing more with less in West Asia β€’ The India Middle East Europe Corridor and connectivity as instruments of power β€’ AI compute infrastructure and the Gulf's post-oil transformation β€’ Israel's evolving role in regional security architecture β€’ How great power competition is reshaping alliances and coalitions β€’ Whe… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/episodes/us-and-china-take-divergent-paths-in-the-new-west-asia/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-china-global-south-podcast-5670371/us-and-china-take-divergent-paths-in-the-new-west-asia.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.