When the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Saudi Arabia in August, months before the start of the Gaza war, he declared that bilateral ties were “on the right track”. Later, in the second week of October, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) had a telephone conversation about the situation in Palestine. Now, Ebrahim visited Saudi Arabia from November 13 to participate in the OIC-organized Gaza summit…

The Kingdom’s news agency (SPA) reported that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have officially resumed ceasefire talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The ceasefire talks are mainly facilitated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the African Union and IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development, includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Eritrea). Of late, however, the three have been unceremoniously interfered with by the senile US, which, as the unipolar world it created leaves the world stage…

The Trump administration’s proactive pursuit of ‘peace’ in the Middle East by helping establish diplomatic ties between Israel and the Arab states, e.g., the UAE and Bahrain, was at best a one-sided peace formula and a recipe of disaster at its worst. For one thing, The Abraham Accords focused on something where there was no conflict, i.e., between Israel and the UAE, while ignoring the epicenter of tensions, i.e., the constant tension between Israel and Palestine. Ignoring this seems to have contributed massively to the Palestinian’s frustration with Israel and the rest…

The BRICS meeting in Johannesburg on August 22–24 has sparked a lot of interest around the world, which is debating what beneficial outcomes will come from this crucial forum. The focus is on analyzing and considering the admission of new BRICS members, including such a prosperous state as the United Arab Emirates. Why such a strong organization as BRICS has focused on this relatively small state with a population of roughly 10 million and an area of 83.6 thousand km raises some question.  The UAE is one of the world’s top oil producers, and oil and gas production together…

The world has been in a condition of global transit in search of a new world order for over 30 years since the fall of the USSR and the breakup of the bipolar world order—the USSR/Warsaw Pact bloc and USA/NATO—as a result of which security and stability will be ensured. Naturally, this process is connected not only with the desire of some and the unwillingness of other powers to search for a new system of international relations but is also a consequence of the objective balance…

“There is a rapprochement [between Saudi Arabia and Israel] underway”, announced President Joe Biden in July. If the Biden administration can find a way for Saudi Arabia and Israel to develop relations officially, this will be a significant diplomatic breakthrough. Indeed, successive US presidents have tried – and failed – in ‘normalising’ the Middle East. The Trump administration, however, found an exceptional success when it got the UAE and Israel (and a couple of other Arab states) to sign The Abraham Accords in 2020. Ever since then, the US has been trying to expand the accords by including Saudi Arabia, which is arguably the most important Muslim…

On August 5–6, 2023, Jeddah hosted the second international meeting of advisers to heads of state and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the Peace Formula. Saudi Arabia, which served as the event’s host, gathered delegates from 42 nations on the sidelines of its platform and secured the participation of China, which is considered Russia’s main partner in the Middle East. Despite the fact that the two days of consultations resulted in no breakthroughs, the Saudi media and community of experts universally hailed the meeting…

The first summit between the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) was held recently in the Saudi city of Jeddah, and generated considerable media interest in the Middle East. Observers in the region have described the summit as “historic,” “promising” and “having a great potential.” They cite the joint declaration approved in the final session of the summit. In this document the two groups of nations emphasize…

Very much like the rest of the world, Africa is changing. China, as a major investor in Africa, is one such source of change. But a recent surge in the investment made by the Gulf states has also started to leave its impact on Africa’s politics and economy. To the extent that Gulf states – especially, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – are trying to diversify their economies, Africa has become a major destination of their immense wealth. Africa’s untapped natural resources are an attractive – and lucrative – site for Gulf states, but in their struggle for influence and to expand their geopolitical reach, Africa is also a landmass that these states…

The sixth meeting of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Gulf Cooperation Council) on strategic dialog has just been held in Moscow. The meeting revealed a great determination of both sides to make progress on all topics and to establish strong, deep-rooted ties at all levels.  The meeting also indicated that both parties are better prepared than ever before to form a long-term strategic partnership. Mutual agreement on a number of key issues, as well as convergence on regional issues such as the Palestinian question and dialogues…

The highly explosive situation in Sudan, caused by hostilities between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has raised many questions about the position taken by the international community, especially by the major global powers. The conflict between opposing Sudanese factions who are competing for influence and control over the country has plunged not only Sudan but also the rest of Africa into a downward spiral with far-reaching security consequences, which requires serious, swift and decisive intervention the part of the international community. Many political analysts are agreed that the Sudan crisis is inextricably linked to other major…

Termed Saudi’s “new oil” industry, tourism ranks very high on Riyadh’s Vision 2030 strategic plan for the country’s economic transformation away from reliance on oil as the major source of revenue. According to the plan, the Saudis aim to raise about US$46 billion annually from tourism by the end of this decade, i.e., by 2030. Saudi’s goal and China’s contribution to world tourism seem to have a perfect synergy. Before Covid, 155 million Chinese tourists spent US$250 billion world-wide. With Saudi Arabia looking to attract tourism, China becomes a natural partner…