Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia

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Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia are the diplomatic and trade relations between Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world. The foreign policy of Saudi Arabia is focused on co-operation with the oil-exporting Gulf States, the unity of the Arab World, Islamic solidarity, and support for the United Nations.[1] In practice, the main concerns in recent years have been relations with the US, the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iraq, the perceived threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the effect of oil pricing. Saudi Arabia contributes large amounts of development aid to Muslim countries. From 1986 to 2006, the country donated £49 billion in aid.[2][3][4]

Although a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, Saudi Arabia is described as leading the "Pro-Western Camp" of Arab countries, aligned with the U.S. and composed of Egypt, Jordan, and Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia and the United States are close strategic allies and partners. However, the relationship witnessed certain decline during the last years of the Obama administration, but strengthened following the election of President Donald Trump who forged close ties with the Saudi royal family.[5][6][7][8] Sunni Islam is the main religion of Saudi.[9][10] China and Saudi Arabia are major allies, with the relationship between the two countries growing significantly in recent decades.[11] A majority of Saudi Arabians have expressed a favorable view of China.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

As a founding member of OPEC, Saudi Arabia's long-term oil pricing policy has been to keep prices stable and moderate—high enough to earn large amounts of revenue, but not so high as to encourage alternative energy sources among oil importers, or jeopardise the economies of Western countries where many of its financial assets are located and which provide political and military support for the Saudi government.[10] The major exception to this occurred during the 1973 oil crisis when Saudi Arabia, with the other Arab oil states, used an embargo on oil supplies to pressure the US to stop supporting Israel.[18]

Saudi Arabia is a founding member of several multinational organizations, including OPEC, the United Nations, the Arab League. It is also a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Muslim World League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Islamic Development Bank—all of which are headquartered in Saudi. The country plays a prominent role in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and in 2005 joined the World Trade Organization.

According to a UCLA professor James L. Gelvin, Saudi Arabia recently has become much more active in terms of foreign and security policy because of the Arab Spring, the policies of the Obama administration and the mid-2010s collapse of oil prices.[19]

  1. ^ "Mofa Ksa || وزارة الخارجية المملكة العربية السعودية". Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  2. ^ ‘Saudis donate aid to non-Muslims' The Telegraph, 26 March 2006
  3. ^ "Saudi Aid to the Developing World". Saudinf. 20 April 2009. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ "Arab Aid". Saudi Aramco World. 1979. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  5. ^ Gardner, Frank (20 April 2016). "How strained are US-Saudi relations?". BBC News.
  6. ^ "The bizarre alliance between the US and Saudi Arabia is finally fraying". newstatesman.com.
  7. ^ "The U.S. Might Be Better Off Cutting Ties With Saudi Arabia". Time.
  8. ^ Noi, Aylin ¨Unver. "A Clash of Islamic Models" (PDF). CURRENT TRENDS IN ISLAMIST IDEOLOGY / VOL. 15. Hudson Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2014. Saudi-led "Pro-Western Camp" aligned with the U.S. and composed of Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf states.
  9. ^ "Saudi Arabia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Saudi Arabia". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  11. ^ Genin, Aaron (1 April 2019). "A GLOBAL, SAUDI SOFT POWER OFFENSIVE: A SAUDI PRINCESS AND DOLLAR DIPLOMACY". The California Review. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Saudi Arabia and China launch 'digital Silk Road'". businessreviewmiddleeast.com.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "China's Xi Jinping calls Saudi king with pledge to boost ties". South China Morning Post.
  14. ^ "Saudi Arabia, China Sign Deals Worth Up to $65 Billion". Foreign Policy.
  15. ^ "Public Opinion in Saudi Arabia". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
  16. ^ Gao, Charlotte. "Closer Ties: China And Saudi Arabia Sign $70 Billion in New Deals". The Diplomat.
  17. ^ "Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir of Saudi Arabia Co-host the Third Meeting of the Political and Diplomatic Sub-committee of China-Saudi Arabia High-level Joint Committee". fmprc.gov.cn.
  18. ^ "Oil Embargo, 1973–1974 – 1969–1976 – Milestones – Office of the Historian". Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  19. ^ Gelvin, James L. (20 October 2017). "Why is Saudi Arabia suddenly so paranoid?". Retrieved 26 December 2017.