Chinese Soft Power in the Middle East

As China's footprint in the Middle East expands beyond energy and infrastructure, its pursuit of cultural and ideational influence has become a central pillar of its regional strategy. The book provides the first comprehensive, empirical analysis of how China projects soft power across this geopolitically vital region.

Moving beyond Western-centric paradigms of attraction, this book introduces the concept of "instrumental attraction" to explain how China leverages tangible benefits — such as scholarships, technology transfers, and stability narratives — to cultivate influence. Through detailed comparative case studies of the Persian Gulf monarchies, Iran, and North Africa, the book examines China's cultural diplomacy, media outreach, and educational statecraft, grounded in extensive fieldwork and valuable firsthand data gathered across nine countries. Challenging traditional applications of soft power theory, the analysis demonstrates how China's appeal in the Middle East is fundamentally state-driven, prioritizing non-interference, economic modernization, and elite relationship-building over universal values.

Offering a rare insider’s perspective informed by over a decade of cross-cultural engagement, this book is an essential resource for scholars and students of International Relations, Middle East Studies, and Chinese Foreign Policy, as well as policymakers navigating the shifting global order.

Mahdi Yousefi is a Research Associate at Hainan Normal University, China. His research focuses on international and intercultural communication, China–Middle East relations, and media and communication in the Global South, informed by over a decade of cross-cultural experience in China and the Middle East.