MENA, China and the great human rights trade off

This alleged prophecy, attributed to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, is seemingly coming true. It is the 21st century and no region of the world has escaped China’s economic and political vision. At a time when America is increasingly inward looking and less interested in the rest of the world, many are wondering: Is China about to take the lead globally?

Many regimes across the Middle East and North Africa are looking toward Beijing for their political future, as one UAE based-academic told the UK’s Financial Times, “the trend is more China, less America on all fronts.”

But what does more China and less America mean for the governments and the people of Southwest Asia? What are the trade-offs for a growing partnership with Beijing?

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