Saudi Arabia’s Balanced Diplomacy

Okaz, Saudi Arabia, May 6

Countries around the world are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for evacuating their citizens from Sudan. This evacuation effort encompassed many countries, including India, South Korea, the United States, and even Iran. This evacuation, following the deterioration of the fighting in Sudan, is a testament to the Kingdom’s diplomatic capability and influence even in an active war zone, where few other diplomats have succeeded to engage with the warring parties. Several countries have acknowledged the difficulties in evaluating their citizens from the region. Sudan isn’t the first warzone where Saudi diplomacy carried a great impact. Saudi Arabia has garnered great respect from the parties in Libya for its position which calls for a Libyan solution that is accepted by all parties, without favoring one over another, in a region that has been largely divided over the past decade. Similarly, a look at the Ukrainian crisis reveals that Saudi Arabia’s neutral stance had a considerable impact on the prisoner exchange deal held between Moscow and Kyiv. This was a response to the calls from the United States to discuss OPEC+ production levels, which was tied to Saudi Arabia’s backing of Russia in its military and economic struggles against US and European sanctions. This role played by Saudi Arabia is of great importance, given the influence that the Kingdom has in the region and the necessity of the region to recover from the effects of the Arab Spring. Moreover, the region must be vigilant and avoid getting dragged and embroiled in the conflicts of other countries, such as the fourteen-month-long conflict between Ukraine and Russia or the periodic military threats against Taiwan. Saudi Arabia’s ability to serve as an honest and trusted mediator bodes well for the security and stability of the Arab Gulf and the Middle East more broadly. —Abdul Rahman Al-Tariri (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)