The impact of China's influence on the U.S. strategy in the West Asia region from 2021 to 2025

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of International Relations, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad Institute, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Law, Tehran East Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant professor of International relations, department of Regional Studies, University of Tehran,, Tehran. Iran

10.22034/fasiw.2026.246023
Abstract
China, as an emerging power in the world, has rapidly increased its influence in the West Asia region. Since the rise of communism in China, the country has established strong relations with several countries in the region. Now Beijing seen as a serious competitor to the hegemony of the United States. The growing economy, military power, market productivity, and the so-called non-interventionist approach provide China with a powerful leverage for further engagement with countries in West Asia. China's ambitions in West Asia are not limited to oil, gas, and markets; this region also holds strategic importance, and the "Belt and Road Initiative" encompasses all aspects of it. Currently, China's expanding diplomatic, economic, and military power has become a serious threat to the United States. The goal of this research is to examine the dimensions of China's increasing influence on regional security and its impact on changing U.S. policies toward this region. In this context, the main research question is: How has China's growing influence in West Asia affected the shift in U.S. strategy in the region from 2021 to 2025? This study, based on a methodology and approach grounded in qualitative and descriptive-analytical methods, analyzes how China's influence has raised concerns in the United States regarding West Asia and has led to a revival of U.S. influence and presence through a return to the region, economic diplomacy, technological diplomacy, and the adoption of new multilayered alliance-building policies in the region between 2021 and 2025.

Keywords



Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 June 2026