Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, previously seen as an outcast, took center stage at the Arab League summit as Syria was readmitted to the league, Reuters reports.
The crown prince’s warm greeting to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was a demonstration of stubbornness against the dismissive attitude of the US. Bin Salman is looking for ways to make Saudi Arabia a regional power, taking advantage of its place in an oil-dependent world whose normal order has been disrupted by the war in Ukraine.
Bin Salman drew international condemnation after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by a Saudi Arabian hit squad in 2018. Now the crown prince is back on the political stage, and Washington cannot influence it. Skeptical of US security guarantees, he is now building relationships with other superpowers
and, regardless of what the US thinks, is also reshaping relations with common enemies.
The Saudi crown prince’s almost indecent confidence was evident not only in greeting Assad. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also attended the Arab League summit and bin Salman offered to play a mediating role in talks between Kyiv and Saudi oil partner, Moscow.
Saudi Arabia is still somewhat dependent on US military aid, which saved it from the looming invasion of Saddam Hussein in the 1990s.
The US monitors Iran’s activities in the Gulf and provides Riyadh with most of its armaments.
However, as the US becomes less involved in the Middle East and less responsive to Riyadh’s concerns, the crown prince has decided to shape his own regional policy.
Bin Salman’s position was strengthened by Russia’s incursions into Ukraine. Western economies have turned to Saudi Arabia for help in balancing the oil market, which has given the crown prince the opportunity to launch a diplomatic offensive, including attending various high-level summits.
It bore fruit when Washington announced that the crown prince had been granted immunity in the Khashoggi suicide case,
despite US intelligence suggesting that bin Salman was directly involved. US President Joe Biden’s visit to Riyadh in July 2022 also showed the rise of Saudi Arabia’s influence. Biden went home with no tangible gains, while the crown prince enjoyed a public U.S. commitment to Saudi Arabia’s security.
Saudi Arabia’s disengagement from US influence came as China brokered talks between Riyadh and its main regional foe, Iran. Bin Salman has also improved relations with Turkey and ended the boycott of Qatar.
Instead of the old oil-for-defense model, Saudi Arabia is trying to build a more transactional relationship with the United States, especially after the 2011 Arab revolution, when Riyadh realized how easy it is to undermine security.
Despite mutual resentments, both sides have little choice but to put their differences aside. The kingdom may see the protection provided by the US as weakened, but it is still very important. Western countries, on the other hand, have realized that in the fragile situation of the oil market, they have to silence their protests and live with the behavior and choices of the actual ruler and future king of Saudi Arabia.
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