Pak Sahafat – The Economist magazine wrote a report about the change in Saudi foreign policy that the country is looking for a compromise with the Syrian government and Yemen’s Ansarullah, which it fought against for years and failed.
According to the report of the Pak Sahafat International News Agency, the English publication “The Economist” wrote in a report about the change in Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy towards the parties in the region.
According to Arabi 21, this publication wrote that Saudi Arabia has changed its foreign policy towards the parties in the region from hostility to reconciliation.
The Economist continued: Diplomats rarely accept defeat, but that’s exactly what the Saudi foreign minister did on February 18 at the Munich Security Conference.
According to this report, Saudi Arabia sought to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in isolation. In response to a question about rumors that his country may change course, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan announced at the Munich Security Conference 2023 that the effort to isolate Assad is nearing its end. There is an agreement that this situation is no longer enforceable.
This English publication wrote that Saudi Arabia spent tens of billions of dollars over the past decades to destroy Bashar al-Assad and the Ansarullah group in Yemen. In the coming months, Riyadh is likely to admit that it has failed in both efforts. This is not because the Saudis have become sympathetic to their opponents; rather, it is another sign of how Saudi Arabia, like some of its neighbors in the Persian Gulf, considers the rest of the Arab world a source of annoyance.
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The report further states that the Saudis were the first to support the uprising against Bashar al-Assad and started sending weapons and money to the Syrian rebels in 2012. But these efforts failed.
The Economist further emphasized that even after the victory of Bashar al-Assad, the Saudis (along with Qatar) refused to re-establish relations with Damascus or even allow Syria to return to the Arab League. Today, these countries no longer insist on this position. Prince Faisal told the Munich meeting that other Gulf diplomats personally believe there is no clear path to ousting Assad. We all have policies, but no strategy to implement those policies…no way to achieve the ultimate goals we all have.
This English publication added: Diplomats in the Arab world believe that Saudi Arabia can announce the rapprochement of Saudi-Syrian relations at the next meeting of the Arab League, which is usually held in March and is hosted by the Saudis this year. An official of the Saudi Foreign Ministry says that Riyadh may attach conditions in this process.
According to this report, getting closer to Assad is much less than the change of approach that Riyadh sees on the horizon of Yemen. Yemen has been in tension since the 2011 uprising against Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s former dictator. His successor, “Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi”, is an absurd character who proved that he is not capable of keeping the country.
This English publication wrote that the war in Yemen has become expensive for the Saudis. There are no official statistics, but Saudi Arabia has spent tens of billions of dollars on this war. Some estimate that this figure may have reached as high as $1 billion per week during the most intense conflicts.
The Economist further stated: The Saudis are negotiating an agreement that will allow them to leave. This will not remove Ansarullah from power, nor will it end Yemen’s chaotic civil war; but he assures the Saudi authorities that the Yemenis will stop sending drones and missiles across the border to Saudi Arabia.
This English publication emphasized at the end: The restoration of Saudi relations with Bashar al-Assad does not mean that the Saudis will spend money to rebuild his ruined country. Nor does their ending the war in Yemen mean that Riyadh will step up to fund the reconstruction effort, which the World Bank estimates will cost something like $25 billion. Many Saudis, including officials, consider this period as the era of “first Saudi Arabia”; where money is supposed to be spent at home and foreign conflicts, especially in a period when Saudi Arabia suffers from failed strategies.