Arab plan for Syria puts US and Europe in a bind.

By James M. Dorsey An earlier version of this story was published on Responsible Statecraft . To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud, Itunes , Spotify , Spreaker , and Podbean. A push by Arab allies of the United States to bring Syria in from the cold highlights the limits of a Chinese-mediated rapprochement between the Middle East’s archrivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The effort spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates, and supported by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, demonstrates that the expected restoration of diplomatic relations between the kingdom and the Islamic republic has done nothing to reduce geopolitical jockeying and rebuild trust. At best, the Chinese-mediated agreement establishes guardrails to prevent regional rivalries from spinning out of control, a principle of Chinese policy towards the Middle East. The Saudi-Iran agreement also is an exercise in regime survival.