Alterman, Jon B.

Garver, John W.

Harris, Robert A.

English

U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons

Naval War College ReviewVolume 63Number 2 Spring Article 152010The Vital Triangle: China, the United States and theMiddle EastRobert A. HarrisJon B. AltermanJohn W. GarverFollow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-reviewThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contactrepository.inquiries@usnwc.edu.Recommended CitationHarris, Robert A.; Alterman, Jon B.; and Garver, John W. (2010) "The Vital Triangle: China, the United States and the Middle East,"Naval War College Review: Vol. 63 : No. 2 , Article 15.Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol63/iss2/15work with the existing hegemonicpower of the day? Also, to what extentcan, and should, Beijing further its in-terests militarily? Horner sees this aspart of a more fundamental questionand cites a Chinese intellectual: “Do weChinese have the possibility or necessityto form our own discourse of moder-nity, or do we open a ‘branch office’ ofthe Western discourse of modernity inChina”?I commend this book to general readersin search of intellectually stimulatingbut accessible material, to teachers ofsurvey courses at the advanced under-graduate or graduate level, and to spe-cialists seeking insights into their ownstudies of Chinese history.ANDREW ERICKSONNaval War CollegeAlterman, Jon B., and John W. Garver. The VitalTriangle: China, the United States and the MiddleEast. Washington, D.C.: CSIS, 2008. 144pp.$16.95In The Vital Triangle Jon Alterman andJohn Garver present a compact analysisof relations among China, the UnitedStates, and the countries of the Mideast.Alterman directs the Middle East Pro-gram at the Center for Strategic and In-ternational Studies, and Garver is aprofessor of international affairs atGeorgia Tech. They deliver a focused,133-page narrative, peppered withcharts illustrating statistical trends inthe energy and arms trades. Based oninterviews and conferences with schol-ars in China and the Mideast, a reviewof English- and Chinese-language sec-ondary literature, and news reporting,this study is the first attempt at acomprehensive, “three-dimensional”study of Sino-U.S. relations in regard tothe vital Middle East.Most important, the authors explainhow Beijing’s keen awareness of its lim-ited power and its recognition of theimportance of Sino-U.S. trade signifi-cantly restrain Chinese opposition toU.S. Mideast strategy. Despite China’sgrowing economic stake in the regionand declaratory opposition to U.S. “he-gemony,” Beijing gives avoiding directclashes with Washington higher prioritythan it does its relations with regionalstates. A key example is China’s deci-sion in 1997 to scale back significantlycooperation with Iran on nuclear andmissile technologies in response topressure from the Clinton administra-tion. The authors demonstrate howBeijing paradoxically combines a prac-tical policy of risk avoidance with therhetoric of antihegemonic solidarity,allowing China to reap economic andpolitical profits from Western protec-tion of the flow of Mideast energy and,simultaneously, from regional resent-ments of that same Western intervention.Beijing’s observations of rough Sovietand American experiences in Mideastgeopolitics reinforce its belief in thecost-effectiveness of a low regionalsecurity profile.The book concludes with some reason-able, if not exactly groundbreaking, rec-ommendations for managing frictionsin the China–United States–Mideast tri-angle. Of particular interest to the navalcommunity are those focused on secur-ing the maritime domain within thePersian Gulf. Alterman and Garver ad-vocate collaboration among China andWestern and Persian Gulf littoral stateson ship identification protocols, cargosecurity initiatives, and multilateralB O O K R E V I E W S 1 4 7NWCR_Spring2010.psC:\Documents and Settings\john.lanzieri.ctr\Desktop\NavalWarCollege\5399_NWC_Review_Spring2010\NWCR_Spring2010.vpMonday, March 01, 2010 4:18:47 PMColor profile: Generic CMYK printer profileComposite  Default screen1Harris et al.: The Vital Triangle: China, the United States and the Middle EastPublished by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 20101 4 8 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E Wsearch-and-rescue operations. The au-thors argue that because these steps arelimited, practical, and focus on the in-terests of all sides, China may be willingto engage here, and that further, be-cause of Tehran’s desire to stay on goodterms with Beijing, Chinese participa-tion might induce some restraint onIran’s part.The Vital Triangle is well worth reading.It provides a useful contextual frame-work for placing in perspective over-hyped news reports on Sino-U.S.disputes over Chinese arms deals withcountries in the region, Beijing’s grow-ing concerns about ensuring the secu-rity of its oil imports, threats fromEgypt and Saudi Arabia that they mayseek Beijing’s political-military supportas an alternative to Washington, and at-tempts by Iran to appeal to China as acounterweight to Western pressures.Because the book cogently illustratesBeijing’s reluctance to take risks orchoose sides and thereby diminishes thecredibility of China as a counterweight,Americans working diplomatically inthe Mideast could even find it useful toprovide copies to their host-country in-terlocutors the next time they try toplay “the China card.”ROBERT A. HARRISDefense Intelligence Agency, Burke, Va.(The views and opinions expressed in this review arethe author’s alone and do not reflect the official pol-icy or position of the Defense Intelligence Agency,Department of Defense, or U.S. government.)Jones, Seth G. In the Graveyard of Empires: Amer-ica’s War in Afghanistan. New York: Norton,2009. 414pp. $27.95In an August 2009 Wall Street Journalarticle, Seth Jones described meetingvillagers in Afghanistan who had neverheard of President Hamid Karzai andeven thought the U.S. military forces hewas traveling with were Soviets, “not re-alizing that the Soviet army withdrew in1989.” This lack of knowledge mayseem implausible in an era of cell phoneand Internet communication, but Jonesoffers a detailed narrative of the histori-cal and modern-day challenges in Af-ghanistan that makes this ignorancebelievable. He describes a country pop-ulated by diverse ethnic tribes withstrong aversions to central governance.As the title implies, he recalls the failureof foreign forces time and again to tameand govern this disparate Afghan popu-lace. From Alexander the Great in 330BC to the British Empire in the nine-teenth century, to the Soviet invasion ofthe 1970s, Afghanistan has been seem-ingly unconquerable. Against this back-ground Jones demonstrates themonumental challenge that the UnitedStates faces as it attempts to do whatother “empires” could not—“create anew order” in Afghanistan. He clearlydemonstrates that “the lessons from thepast empires provide a stark lesson.”A well-respected political scientist atRAND, Seth Jones clearly has the credi-bility to take on the task of breakingdown and explaining the complicatedAfghan environment. Jones is an ad-junct professor at Georgetown Univer-sity, has taught at the NavalPostgraduate School, and has visitedAfghanistan numerous times since 11September 2001. In the Graveyard ofEmpires is painstakingly researched,with over a thousand notes citing inter-views, documents, books, news articles,video clips, and written statementsNWCR_Spring2010.psC:\Documents and Settings\john.lanzieri.ctr\Desktop\NavalWarCollege\5399_NWC_Review_Spring2010\NWCR_Spring2010.vpMonday, March 01, 2010 4:18:47 PMColor profile: Generic CMYK printer profileComposite  Default screen2Naval War College Review, Vol. 63 [2010], No. 2, Art. 15https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol63/iss2/15

The Vital Triangle: China, the United States and the Middle East

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