Is Saudi Arabia a leader in the Middle East?
2022.12.04 10:57
Is Saudi Arabia a leader in the Middle East?
Budrigannews.com – Analysts stated that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will host China’s leader this week, signaling Riyadh’s resolve to navigate a polarized global order regardless of its Western allies’ wishes.
After Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in 2018, which cast a shadow over Saudi-U.S. ties, the oil tycoon’s ruler has made a comeback on the global stage. He has been defiant in the face of U.S. ire over the kingdom’s energy policy and pressure from Washington to help isolate Russia.
During the visit of President Xi Jinping, which is expected to begin on Tuesday, Prince Mohammed will also gather rulers from across the Middle East and North Africa for a Chinese-Arab summit in a show of strength as an aspiring Arab leader.
Ayham Kamel, head of Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group, stated, “Riyadh is working according to strategic calculations that it must accommodate Beijing, as it is now an indispensable economic partner.”
According to the analysts, Riyadh is charting a foreign policy that serves its national economic transformation as the world pivots away from hydrocarbons, which are Saudi Arabia’s lifeblood. However, the United States of America remains the partner of choice for Gulf states that rely on it for their security.
“MBS is certainly not pursuing this out of spite,” Kamel stated. “There is certainly a risk that expanding relations with China backfires and lead to a (further) split in the U.S.-Saudi relationship.”
Xi’s visit occurs at a time when U.S.-Saudi relations are at their lowest point, global energy markets are weighed down by uncertainty as the West imposes a price cap on Russian oil and Washington is wary of China’s growing influence in the Middle East.
On Xi’s visit and its schedule, the Saudi government did not respond to inquiries for comment.
Prince Mohammed told The Atlantic magazine in March that he did not care if U.S. President Joe Biden misunderstood anything about him and that Biden should be focusing on America’s interests.
This was an indication of Prince Mohammed’s displeasure with American criticism of Riyadh’s human rights record.
In remarks published by the Saudi state news agency SPA in the same month, he also suggested that while Riyadh wanted to strengthen its ties to Washington, it could also choose to reduce “our interests” in the United States, which are Saudi investments.
Saudi Arabia’s economy is strengthening its ties to China.Despite the fact that Russia, an OPEC+ producer, has increased its share of the Chinese market with fuel at lower prices, it is China’s primary oil supplier.
Additionally, Beijing has advocated for the use of its yuan currency in trade rather than the US dollar.Riyadh had previously threatened to end some dollar oil trades in response to the possibility that legislation in the United States would subject OPEC members to antitrust lawsuits.
Under Biden’s administration, OPEC+’s oil policy and the Ukraine conflict have further strained already-tense U.S.-Saudi relations, which are already strained due to issues with human rights and the Yemen war, in which Riyadh leads a military coalition.
Negotiators in the locale said Xi would have a sumptuous gathering likened to the one shown then-President Donald Trump when he visited the realm in 2017, and as opposed to Biden’s off-kilter visit in July that had expected to repair attaches with Riyadh.
Trump won over $100 billion in contracts for U.S. military industry and was greeted by King Salman at the airport amid fanfare.Biden had downplayed his interactions with Prince Mohammed, to whom he gave a fist-bump rather than a handshake, despite once promising to make Riyadh “a pariah” over the killing of Khashoggi.
Diplomats have informed Reuters that the Chinese delegation is anticipated to sign dozens of energy, security, and investment agreements with Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations.
Even though foreign direct investment has been slow, Prince Mohammed is concentrating on implementing his Vision 2030 diversification plan, which aims to wean the economy off of oil by creating new industries like the manufacturing of automobiles and weapons and logistics.
The $500 billion NEOM zone, which is a boon for Chinese construction companies, is one example of the kingdom’s significant investment in new infrastructure and megaprojects related to tourism.
Despite U.S. reservations regarding their ties with both Russia and China, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have stated that they will continue to diversify partnerships to serve economic and security interests.
Jonathan Fulton, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, stated that Prince Mohammed wants to demonstrate to his own constituency that the kingdom is significant to many global powers.
“Perhaps he’s signaling to the United States as well,” although “he’s more concerned about what people within the kingdom think”
After the OPEC+ output move, Biden promised “consequences” for Riyadh, but Washington has since reiterated its support for the kingdom’s security, highlighting the United States’ “comparative advantage” in constructing integrated defense structures in the Gulf.
White House public safety representative John Kirby (NYSE:)told reporters on Wednesday that Washington wants to make sure Riyadh’s “strategic” relationship is working “in our best interests.”
When questioned about the relationship between Saudi Arabia and China prior to Xi’s visit, U.S. officials have declined to comment.
Washington has expressed concern regarding the Gulf Arabs’ use of Chinese 5G technology and Chinese investments in sensitive infrastructure like ports, including in the United Arab Emirates, which put a Chinese port project on hold due to U.S. concerns.
Chinese military equipment is being purchased by Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, and a Saudi company has agreed to produce armed drones in the kingdom with a Chinese company.
According to Saudi TV Asharq News and Saudi analyst Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Riyadh-based Gulf Research Center, Arab states wanted to inform Western allies that they have options and that their relationships are primarily based on economic interests.
According to Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East programme at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, Saudi ties with China appear to be expanding “much more quickly” than with the United States. However, the actual relationships between Saudi Arabia and China are not comparable.
He stated, “In terms of both complexity and intimacy, the relationships with China pale in comparison to those with the United States.”
