John Calabrese

Dr. John Calabrese teaches US foreign policy at American University in Washington, DC. He is the book review editor of The Middle East Journal and previously served as director of MEI's Middle East-Asia Project (MAP), and as general series editor of MEI Viewpoints. He is the author of China's Changing Relations with the Middle East and Revolutionary Horizons: Iran's Regional Foreign Policy. He has edited several books and has written numerous articles on the international relations of the Middle East, especially on the cross-regional ties between the Middle East and Asia. He co-directed the MEI-FRS project for the European Commission on Transatlantic Cooperation on Protracted Displacement.

Education
B.A., English and Government, Georgetown University; Diploma (with Distinction), Comparative and International Politics, The London School of Economics; Ph.D., International Relations, The London School of Economics

Recent Publications

2024.  “Erdoğan’s balancing act: The shifting dynamics of Turkey-China ties, ThinkChina.

2024.  “The Gulf Monarchies and the Multifaceted Security Challenges They Face, Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “A Rising India Undercuts Pakistan’s Influence in the Gulf,” Gulf International Forum.

2024.  “Iraq’s Geopolitical Tightrope: Balancing Iran, Turkey, and US Pressures,” Manara Magazine.

2024.  “Expansion Amid Uncertainty: Qatar’s Bold Wager in the Evolving LNG Market,” Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “Oman’s Diplomatic and Economic Strategies in a Shifting Global Order,” Institute for European and American
            Studies (RIEAS).

2024.  “China’s Expanding Solar Footprint in the Gulf,” Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW).

2024. “Japan’s LNG Future: Balancing Energy Security With Sustainability Commitments,” The Diplomat.

2024. “Tackling the Middle East’s Captagon Conundrum,” The National Interest.

2024. “Can China avoid the mistakes of past powers in Afghanistan?” ThinkChina.

2024.  “Economic Bridges: The Gulf States’ Strategic Expansion Across Africa’s Key Sectors,” Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “Gulf-Southeast Asian Ties: Expectations Still Outpacing Progress – For Now,” Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

2024.  “From Floods to Heatwaves: Navigating the Gulf's New Climate Reality” Gulf International Forum.

2024.  “China’s humanitarian role: Insights from the Syrian refugee crisis,” Middle East Institute.

2024.  “Bahrain’s Infrastructure at Risk of Regional Overcapacity and Global Competition,” in ISPI
            Dossier on So Small, So Pivotal: Bahrain’s Distinctive Path in Gulf Transformations.

2024.  “China-Egypt Relations: Fast lane for now,” ThinkChina.

2024.  “China and the Gulf Arab States: Petrochemicals Partners,” Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “Iran—Iraq’s Unavoidable Neighbor and America’s Bitter Pill,” The National Interest.

2024.  “How the ‘new’ Eastern Mediterranean can serve as a bridge between the Gulf and Europe,” Manara Magazine.

2024.  “India and the UAE: Partners in Progress,” Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “Xi Jinping’s Visit to Europe: More Dialogue than Deliverables,” Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “Iran: Running Out of Time to Avoid Running Out of Water?” Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “Coping with China’s Cleantech Growth,” The National Interest.

2024.  “‘Gwadar is the future’: China and Pakistan’s troubled strategic port on the Arabian Sea,” Middle East Institute.

2024.  “The phaseout 'Fantasy'?” Illuminem.

2024.  “Iraq’s “Development Road”: Rough Terrain Ahead,” Modern Diplomacy.

2024.  “A New Era of Saudi Diplomacy Has Arrived,” The National Interest.

2024.  “Israel and China: A time for choosing?” Middle East Institute.

2024.  “Driving the green transition: China-Gulf Arab cooperation in the ‘New Three’ industries,” Illuminem.

2023.  “'The worst is coming': Jordan braces for spillover effects of Israel-Hamas war,” Middle East Institute.

2023.  “The war in Gaza as a major test of China’s Middle East peace diplomacy,” Middle East Institute.

2023.  “From petrostates to green leaders: China and the Gulf's climate commitment,” Middle East Institute.

2023.  “Japan looks to the Gulf as it bets big on hydrogen,” Middle East Institute.

2023.  “The new wave of dealmaking by Gulf sovereign wealth funds,” Middle East Institute.

2023.  “Beijing to Baghdad: China’s growing role in Iraq’s energy sector,” Middle East Institute.

2023.  “Pakistan and Egypt: China’s Distressed Assets,” Middle East Institute.

2023.  “Symbiosis: China the leading customer and Saudi Arabia the vital oil supplier,” ThinkChina.

2022.  “China-Middle East Engagement Amid Slow Growth,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2022.  “China’s digital inroads into the Middle East,” East Asia Forum.

2022.  “The US and the I2U2: Cross-Bracing Partnerships Across the Indo-Pacific,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2022.  “China in a Volatile LNG Market and the Stakes for Qatar,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2022.  “China Prioritizes Short-Term Energy Security: Implications for Sino-Middle East Relations,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2022.  “Iraq’s Religious Minorities: On the Precipice,” Contemporary Review of the Middle East 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/2347798922109916.

2022.  “Putin’s ‘Gift,’ China’s Choices, and Mideast Dilemmas,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2022.  “Defying Dystopia: Scope for US-China Collaboration in Building Middle East Resilience,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2022.  “The ‘New Normal’ in Saudi-UAE Relations — Tying China In,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2022.  “China’s Health Silk Road and the BRI Agenda in the Middle East,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2021.  “China’s ‘Pearl’: The UAE Amid Great-Power Rivalry,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2021.  “True allies? An examination of Sino-Russo-Iranian relations,” Manara Magazine.

2021.  “Economics Driving China’s Interest in Egypt,” Near East Policy Forum. 

2021.  “China’s Taliban Conundrum,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2021.  “Iran’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Mission Critical,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2021.  “Iraq’s China embrace not without risks,” Petroleum Economist (20 July).

2021.  “Warming to a Multi-Colored Hydrogen Future? The GCC and Asia Pacific,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2021.  “Middle East-Asia Pacific Oil Relations: From the Pandemic to Peak Oil,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2020.  “Iraq’s Fragile State in the Time of Covid-19,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2020.  “Towering Ambitions: Egypt and China Building for the Future,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2020.  “Course correction: an emerging US strategy for countering China,” Social Transformations in Chinese Societies 16, 2 (2020): 81-97. DOI 10.1108/STICS-04-2020-0009.  

2020.  “‘Unnatural’ Disasters and Injustice in the Indian Riskscape: Unleashing Youth Potential,” Asian Affairs, https://doi.org/10.1080/03068374.2020.1834798.

2020.  “Sino-Iran Relations and Chinese Engagement in the Middle East,” U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on U.S.-China Relations in 2020: Enduring Problems and Emerging Challenges, https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/Calabrese_Statement.pdf.

2020.  “Positioning the Provinces Along China’s Maritime Silk Road,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2020.  “China’s Maritime Silk Road and the Middle East: Tacking Against the Wind,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2020.  “Assuring a Free and Open Indo-Pacific – Rebalancing the US Approach,” Asian Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/03068374.2020.1749400.

2020.  “The Saudi-Iran Strategic Rivalry: ‘Like Fire and Dynamite,’” in Imad Mansour and William R.  Thompson (eds.), Shocks and Rivalries in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. 

2020.  “India-Gulf Migration: A Testing Time,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2020.  “China-Iran Relations: The Not-So-Special ‘Special Relationship,’” China Brief Volume: 20 Issue: 5.

2020.  “The Bab el-Mandeb Strait: Regional and great power rivalries ...,” Middle East Institute.

2020.  “Asia’s Response to the Soleimani Crisis,” The Diplomat.

2019. “Setting the Middle Corridor on Track,” Middle East Institute.

2019. “China-Iraq Relations: Poised for a Quantum Leap?” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2019. “The Huawei Wars and the 5G Revolution in the Gulf,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2019. “China and Syria: In War and Reconstruction,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP). 

2019. “Intersections: China and the US in the Middle East,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP). 

2019. “Bridge to a Brighter Future? South Korea’s Economic Relations with the Gulf,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2018. “China and the Middle East: Redefining the International Order?” Al-Sabah Papers, No. 26.

2018. “Iran under Sanctions: India and China over a Barrel,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2018. “Oman’s Transition to a Post-Oil Economy: Arching Toward Asia,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2018. “Is Asia Iran’s Energy Lifeline?” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2018. “Japan’s Elusive Quest for a ‘Balanced Energy Mix’ and Middle East Energy Relations,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2017. “Global LNG Markets in a State of Flux: Qatar in the Crosshairs?” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2017. “Sino-Algerian Relations: On a Path to Realizing Their Full Potential?” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2017. “China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) Initiative: Envisioning Iran’s Role,” in Niv Horesh and Anoushiravan Ehteshami (Eds.), China’s One Belt, One Road  and AIIB Vision: Implications for the Middle East. (London, UK: Routledge, 2017): 174-191.

2017. “China's Role in Post-Hegemonic Middle East,” RealClearWorld.

2017. “‘Linking West’ in ‘Unsettled Times’: India-G.C.C. Trade Relations,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2017. “China's Muslim Communities: 'Under Maintenance'?” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2017. “The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: Underway and Under Threat,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2016. “Iran’s Economic Outreach to Southeast Asia,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2016. “Responding to Natural Disasters: Rowing Against a Fast-Rising Tide of Risk,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2016. “Jordan’s Response to Acute Energy Insecurity: Searching for a Winning Combination,” in Robert E. Looney (Ed.), Handbook of Transitions to Energy and Climate Security (London and New York: Routledge).

2016. “Fate of the Dragon in the Year of the Red Fire Monkey: China and the Middle East 2016,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

2015. “The Asia-Middle East Nexus: Dependency and Resilience,” IISS Strategic Dossier (London: International Institute for Strategic Studies).

2015. “Balancing on the ‘Fulcrum of Asia’: China’s Pakistan Strategy,” Indian Journal of Asian Affairs (IJAA), 27-28/1-2: 1-21.

2015. “The Arab Uprisings and Energy Producers: Heavy Costs and Ephemeral Benefits” in John Deni (Ed.), New Realities: Energy Security in the 2010s and Implications for the US Military (Carlisle, PA: US Army War College Press), pp. 45-74. 

2015. “Asia’s Role in the Mideast Solar Surge,” MEI Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).

Issues of Expertise
US Foreign Policy, Energy, Asian-Middle East Policy

Contact: jcalabrese@mei.edu or cal@american.edu