Russia and China have become more important players in the Middle East and North Africa than they were 10 years ago, and within a decade could rival US influence in the region.

That is the result of a recent public opinion poll, RT (Russia) reported on April 9. According to RT, the poll was conducted by Al-Monitor news site in cooperation with data analysis company Premise, with 2,670 participants across Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Tunisia between March 4 and 22.

When asked which of the three world leaders they liked best, about 44.4% chose Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by Chinese President Xi Jinping with about 33.8%, while only 21.7% said they liked US President Joe Biden.

Al-Monitor said that in addition to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, countless other factors could influence poll respondents' opinions of Washington, but more than 40% of respondents agreed that the United States is still best positioned to help resolve the Israel-Hamas war.

Nearly half of respondents said Russia (49.5%) and China (47.9%) play “a more important role in the region” than they did 10 years ago, while only 37.1% said the same about the United States. 28.9% said that in a decade Beijing will be able to rival Washington as the “most influential” player in the Middle East.

Respondents said they wanted their governments to “promote closer ties” with Beijing (43.2%) and Moscow (39.7%). Nearly two-thirds of respondents believed that Chinese economic investment had a positive impact on their country, while 52.3% saw economic cooperation with Russia as positive. US economic investment was viewed positively by 39.7% .

Minh Duc (According to RT, Al-Monitor)