NOURNEWS – The recent agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is a clear sign that a previous security and defense-military arrangement in the region is coming to an end. It shows that the policy of relying on the United States and seeking to ensure security through Western powers has failed.
What has happened in practice amounts to a kind of acknowledgment by Saudi Arabia that its previous policy, based on reliance on the United States, cannot ensure the security of the country and the Saudi monarchy against the threats it perceives. In contrast, it appears that we are witnessing the emergence of a new policy and the beginning of a transitional period, one in which the need for regional countries to cooperate to safeguard their security, without the presence and intervention of major powers, has received greater attention than before.
Of course, given Saudi Arabia’s experience in forming various coalitions, it is difficult to be particularly optimistic about the success of this pact. About 11 years ago, Saudi Arabia formed a coalition comprising several countries against Yemen, but that coalition ultimately failed and effectively fell apart.
After that, efforts were also made to form broader coalitions against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. These efforts were even raised in the presence of Trump and in the form of the Riyadh Declaration, but they too effectively failed to move beyond the level of statements and political announcements.
This issue goes back to Saudi Arabia’s policies, policies that, unfortunately, are based less on Saudi Arabia’s national interests than on preserving the position of the monarchy and the House of Saud. This is what makes many countries approach coalitions centered on Saudi Arabia, whose primary objective is to preserve one ruling family over a country, with caution.
In pursuing its objectives and plans, Saudi Arabia is seeking to make use of Pakistan’s large military as well as some of Turkey’s military capabilities, including capacities that Turkey possesses by virtue of its NATO membership.
This text first appeared in Jam-e Jam in Farsi.
NOURNEWS