Saudi Arabia introduces itself as the center of the world connecting the East to the West making use of the geopolitical zone it is located. Geographically speaking, the peninsula connects three continents together and calls the tune on a strategic waterway adjusting the security and economic dynamics of the entire world. Beyond that, under Mohammad bin Salman’s rule, Riyadh has started a bid to form a fresh character away from the old one according to which Washington’s patronage guided the country’s policy playbook. The fresh character, as observed in the economic sphere, decentralizes old partnerships into a diversification of allies, one in which two antagonistic forces may shake hands in Riyadh.
In that sense, Saudi Arabia has provided the world with a fresh hub of political and economic developments. In light of the neutral policy it has adopted since late 2010s, the country has served as a broker in international conflicts and satisfied its ambition to turn into a stabilizing force in the Middle East. Above that, nonetheless, Riyadh’s strategic approach means to serve its own interests in global scenes reinforcing its newly-established character to promote political partnerships and economic cooperation.
Scene One: United States
Evolved after the World War II dust settled down, US-Saudi relationship has seen the smallest ups and downs compared to Washington’s ties with other non-European nations across the world. The American security partnership has been one that Saudi Arabia never hesitated to embrace during the decades that was directing the United States to the position of the sole global superpower. In return, Washington enjoyed Saudi abundant resources of hydrocarbons and its key role in adjusting the international oil production and distribution policies.
Saudi Arabia’s rivalries in the Middle East, including with Iran following the 1979 revolution, provided a further platform in which compliance with American agenda in the region saw more daylight. The only dividing point was Israel, American main ally in the region, on which the two sides reached an unwritten agreement to secure the interests of both sides. Excluding the September 11 attacks, in which Saudi agents were identified as perpetrators, and an oil embargo three decades earlier, Saudi Arabia and the United States never engaged in a heightened dispute that could undermine the bilateral relations.
The oil in return for security settlement could retain the ties between Washington and Riyadh until one side lose trust on the other’s commitment to the decades-long partnership. It all started when former US president Donald Trump detached the country from security commitments across the world, denouncing the expenses they had imposed on the American nation during the years. Faced with threats from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Aramco facilities and receiving no support from the United States, Saudi Arabian disillusionment started to change the dynamics of the seven-decade partnership.
The tempest, though, came with Joe Biden when his tough-policy agenda towards Saudi Arabia backfired straining the ties to the lowest level in decades. US president’s blunder rooted in a misinterpretation of the developments in the Middle East and underestimation of the Saudi influence and plans for the coming years. Saudis shunned American campaigns against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, standing in a middle position between the two sides of the conflicts. Riyadh also refrained from joining the global economic campaigns against Russia and turned down American calls to eschew cutting down on the oil production. Saudi agenda during the Ukraine war was not an abrupt response to the United States, but centered on its grand policy of caretaker role while serving the economic interests of Saudi nation.
Scene Two; Multipolar World
Saudi severance with the United States was consorted by the country’s policy of diversification of political, security, and economic partners. Guided by the global shift from a superpower model to the multipolar power-sharing system, Saudi leaders boosted security cooperation with China struggling to expand the range of their military and security allies. Saudi military cooperates with China in manufacturing drones and ballistic missiles, and have other strategic defense partnerships. This is while Riyadh keeps its defense ties with the United States, clearly knowing the strategic and military significance of and ongoing partnership with Washington. Riyadh enjoys the flow of both rivers to a lake for which interests are prioritized over politics or traditional friendships.
Besides, China stands as a top financial and economic partner to Saudi Arabia. In a world where Saudi Arabia no longer leans on the United States military patronage and the American reliance on Saudi oil is no more a critical policy-shifting element, China can be a good replacement in both spheres. Beijing has been a top importer of crude oil from Saudi Arabia for the past decade. Riyadh and Beijing have aligned their key roadmaps, namely Vision 2030 and Belt and Road Initiative, in a way to complement one another. Two years ago, the two nations have started a comprehensive strategic partnership which is expected to be an “epoch-making milestone in history of the development of China-Arab relations.”
Saudi Arabian “active neutrality” policy on the Ukraine war and the abstinence to join the western campaign against Russia, while hosting the Ukrainian president in a summit to end the war, presents a further dimension of the kingdom’s bid to turn into a key regional and trans-regional source of influence. En route, Saudi leader have employed the ally-diversification policy to mitigate the potential financial and military hazards and support his long-term policies. Russia, besides China, has been one of the main poles of the eastern bloc expansion during the recent years. Diplomatic and intelligence ties with Russia retains Moscow, a strong global actor, as a piece for Riyadh’s chess-game in the future.
Saudi Arabia’s game-play with the United States never means to turn the two into a rivalry. Riyadh still leans on the United States for its nuclear program and advanced arms imports. The United States is still the main international power, if not to call it the superpower. Saudi Arabia means to make a balance between new and traditional partners while getting rid of hazardous rivalries like the one it had with Iran. Saudi new ties, by and large, may be employed as a leverage ruse against the United States during the complicated negotiations on Saudi nuclear program and Normalization of ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia has learned the rule of the game and keeps his friends close, while keeping enemies closer.
| The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Al-Sarira. |
