Abstract
This review essay critically engages with Narratives of Sino-Middle Eastern Futures: In the Eye of the Beholder by Mohammed Alsudairi and Andrea Ghiselli (Cambridge University Press, 2025). While the book aims to reframe debates on China–Middle East relations through a ‘thin constructivist’ focus on elite narratives in China, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, its contribution is undermined by narrow case selection, methodological superficiality, and theoretical ambiguity. The study relies heavily on an uncritical use of government-related sources, while its exclusion of more influential actors such as Iran, Türkiye, and Egypt limit its explanatory power. The book’s tripartite scenario framework—continuity, embedding, and dissonance—offers little predictive clarity, functioning more as a hedge against uncertainty than as an analytical tool. Ultimately, the volume promises to shift the debate beyond US-centric perspectives but delivers a partial and cautious account that fails to capture the complexity of Sino–Middle Eastern futures. Its enduring value may lie less in its insights than in the critical debates it invites.