Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia amid Sino-American Rivalry: Strategic Hedging and the pursuit of Autonomy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/qk4tw388Keywords:
U.S.-China rivalry, North Africa, geopolitical competition, Belt and Road initiative, trade war.Abstract
This article examines how the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China is reshaping strategic autonomy and economic decision-making in North Africa, with a focus on Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia. It seeks to assess the extent to which U.S.–China competition influences the strategic behavior of North African states, as well as how domestic structural conditions mediate this impact. Drawing on neorealism, dependency theory, and the concept of strategic hedging, the study employs qualitative comparative analysis alongside process tracing to analyze policy trajectories from 2015 to 2025. The findings indicate that North African states are not merely passive arenas of great power competition, but rather active agents that strategically leverage this rivalry to maximize their gains; however, their capacity to do so varies considerably.
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