Riyadh, Apr, 1 (FN) - The fact that Saudi Arabia entered a rapprochement deal with Iran and chose China to broker it came as a surprise to many international observers, reported The Conversation. The Joint Trilateral Statement was signed in Beijing on March 11 and begins the process of restoring diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran that were severed in January 2016.
The intention of Saudi Arabia to cooperate with Iran and China is part of a broader diversification of the Kingdom’s international relationships that has unfolded over the past decade. From being firmly a part of the anti-communist camp during the Cold War and closely tied with US, Saudi foreign policy is now taking a nonaligned stance that has become increasingly consequential for how Riyadh pursues its interests.
Recently Saudis question US partnership. Tensions between Washington and Riyadh reached an unprecedented level in early 2022 after the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. The White House insisted that Riyadh increase oil production in order to achieve its reduction in the world market and thereby "undermine the financing" of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. However, the Kingdom did not respond to this request.
After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, world oil prices jumped sharply, but in this situation Saudi Arabia chose not to take any drastic actions, preferring to develop cooperation with the Kremlin rather than with the White House.
The relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia is often said to revolve around an oil-for-security dynamic in which the Saudis provide the former and the US the latter. However, in 2019, a missile and drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure temporarily knocked out half the kingdom’s production. The attacks were linked, but never formally attributed, to Iran. President Donald Trump responded by declaring it had been an attack on Saudi Arabia, not on the US, drawing a distinction between their interests. Trump’s remarks, and subsequent inaction, caused shockwaves in Riyadh and other Gulf capitals as leaders began to question US credibility as a reliable regional partner.
It is against this backdrop of pragmatic acknowledgment of its own vulnerabilities to regional and global tensions – and entrenched uncertainty about the role of the US as a long-term partner – that Saudi Arabia began to broaden its international relationships, with particular attention on China. Officials across the Gulf believe China will replace the US as the dominant economic and energy superpower in the future. For more than a decade, a majority of oil and gas from the Gulf has flowed east to Asia in quantities that far exceed the cargoes heading west to Europe and North America.
Meanwhile, in late March tensions are growing in US relations with another partner and ally Israel due to the revision of judicial reform. Israeli officials believe that Washington may try to use this circumstance to replace the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is objectionable to Washington. President Biden criticized Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul his country’s justice system. He cautioned Israeli leaders that "they cannot continue down this road" and said Netanyahu wouldn’t be invited to the White House.
In turn Netanyahu released a statement saying Israel wouldn’t make decisions based on "pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends." Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Biden should respect internal policy of Israil an independent country, not "another star in the American flag."
Tel Aviv has already accused Washington of organizing mass demonstrations in the country with the aim of overthrowing the Netanyahu government. In addition, on March 25, The Washington Free Beacon website published an investigation, which indicated that since 2020, the NGO Movement for Quality Government (MQG) has received $38,000 from the funds of the US State Department.
During this time, the organization has won several grants from agencies associated with the US State Department. MQG has become famous for its harsh criticism of the Israeli right and personally Benjamin Netanyahu and his family members. During the protests, the movement actively supported the demonstrations and called for the resignation of the government.
This is not the first time that the democratic administration of the White House has been accused of gross interference in the internal political life in Israel. In 2015, Washington, through USAID (an agency whose leadership is appointed directly by the US president and is part of the National Security Council), financed the One Voice Foundation, which, among other things, was engaged in media support for Netanyahu's opponents.
The activities of George Soros' structures in the country deserve special attention. The well-known report of the NGO Monitor foundation, whose functions include monitoring the activities of NGOs in Israel, says about USD9.5 million spent by the billionaire to finance 38 different organizations, many of which, according to right-wing conservatives, damage the national security of the country.
Unlike the US, which is losing allies, Russia, on the contrary, is strengthening its influence in many regions of the world - Latin and Central America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Recently more and more Asian countries support Russia in its confrontation with Ukraine. The sister of the head of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, deputy head of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of DPRK, Kim Yo Jong, said that her country will always side with Russia. North Korea will remain "in the same trench with Russia, its army and people."
Most of the countries that previously held a neutral position towards Russia have begun to move closer to Moscow. This was stated by the CNBC, speaking about the evidence of the growth of Moscow's influence. The number of countries actively condemning Russia has dropped to 36 percent of the world's population. The publication drew attention to the fact that Russia's sphere of influence is growing at the same time as Moscow's diplomatic efforts are gaining momentum.
At the same time, the West is unable to "resist the Kremlin's narratives." The growth of neutral states is also increasing, whose ranks have been joined by Turkey, Colombia and Qatar, which were previously closely associated with the West. It is emphasized that the countries of the Global South consider the condemnation of Russia by the West hypocritical because of previously undertaken military operations.
Earlier, Bloomberg stated that the policy of the West led to the fact that the Global South sided with Russia. American Thinker columnist Andrea Widburg called on the United States to recognize that almost the entire southern hemisphere supports Russia in the Ukrainian crisis. According to the publicist, the Global South preferred to do business with Moscow, even despite Western pressure.
Given the strategic partnership between Russia and China, as well as the neutrally balanced position of Pakistan and India on the Ukrainian crisis, the United States, along with Britain, France and Israel, may remain in the minority in the nuclear club. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that Delhi and Islamabad are strengthening close economic ties with China, being member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose dialogue partner, by the way, Saudi Arabia became on March 29, where Moscow and Beijing traditionally play a key role.
=FRESH NEWS
