“The coming crisis gives regional governments even more reason to partner broadly with U.S. institutions, U.S. businesses, and the U.S. government. Neither Russia nor China have much to offer the Middle East in this regard, and they have little interest in going down that road at all. Instead, they are bent on extracting as much as they can for as little as they can.” 

Jon B. Alterman, Senior Vice President, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Director, Middle East Program. The Middle East Transition We Need to Talk About [Center for Strategic and International Studies]