Saudi Arabia
Companies That Finance, Develop, and Operate Major Energy Assets Acquire an Enduring Position in the Sector
Internal Upheavals and Rivalries Have Dismantled Formal Regional Alliances in the Middle East
A Pullback in U.S. Soft Power Coincides with China’s Expanding Influence and Investment in the Region
Jerusalem, and Islamic Claims There, Are Likely to Form the Symbolic Element That Knits the Emergent Group Together
An Increasing Number of Non-NATO Allies Flirt With, If Not Tilt Toward, Beijing
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey Aren’t Going to Go to War for Each Other; They Want to Show the U.S. and Iran They Are Ready to Lead in a Region They See as Destabilized by Jerusalem
The Mecca Pact Is the Third Iteration of a Single Saudi Effort to Assemble a Deterrence Substitute for a Diminished American Security Umbrella
The Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani Pact Will Not Fight. Israel Should Build the Bloc That Will
Differing Interests and Threats May Prevent the Mecca Pact from Becoming an ‘Islamic NATO,’ but India Should Be Concerned
Iranian Officials Portray the Pact as Dissatisfaction with U.S. Security Assurances and Israeli Attacks Against Qatar and Syria
The Houthis Utilize Areas Controlled by Kata’ib Hezbollah and Other Militias for Logistical Routes and Launch Zones
The Search for Alternative Mideast Routes Exposes How the Vulnerabilities of a Disrupted Flow of Goods Can Rattle International Economies and Financial Markets
Riyadh Continues to Play a Calculated Game of Evasion
Watch for Talk of Naval Rotations Through the Port and Emirati Moves to Expand Energy and Export Infrastructure
Appeasing Extremists and Terror Sponsors Seldom Brings Peace
Iran’s Ability to Command or at Least Align with Proxy and Client Forces Across the Middle East and Beyond Remains Its Most Significant Tool of Power Projection
Yanbu May Relieve Immediate Pressure, but It Does Not Remove Geopolitical Risks for Saudi Arabia
The Transfer Cannot Proceed Without Moscow’s Approval
Jim Hanson Explains on FOX What This Means for the Region