Saleh Abdullah AL RAJHI

The policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has well established values and principles of which the Kingdom strictly adheres to. As a result the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia focuses essentially on the Gulf region as priority as part of the bigger cycle which is the Arab region, and considered the gulf to be the first cycle in its foreign policy. The Kingdom gives its highest importance to its relations with the Arabian Gulf countries in general and GCC states in particular and considers this to be one of the priorities of its foreign policy in this region.
The Second Dimension or principle in the Saudi foreign policy is the one concerning the Arab nation. The Kingdom is one of the founding members of the Arab League since 1945, and has given its Arab relations a high priority, and has sought to strengthen the joint Arab action within the framework of the League of Arab States, with a keen desire to develop and coordinate these relations so as to preserve the interests of the Arab world as a whole. Saudi efforts in this area aim to resolve Arab conflicts and to use its powerful and credible mediations which proved to be very successful in many years, using its political clout and a sound vision to maintain Arab solidarity. The efforts of late King Abdullah in this area are well known to all, as well as to resolve secondary inter-Arab conflicts affecting Arab solidarity
The importance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a home of the two holiest sites and its powerful political and economic ability gave it superiority and credibility, has facilitated the creation of a regional environment that is conducive to Saudi Arabia initiating mediation efforts. Over the last several decades Saudi Arabia has sought to proactively and unilaterally mediate among regional disputants across the Arab world and the larger Middle East.
Saudi mediation efforts are driven by several interrelated concerns: first, to balance various regional security options; and second, to enhance both the international and the domestic security and stability and the contribution to the maintenance of international security, peace and stability as whole and in accordance with United Nations Charter, and in their role as protectors of Islam’s holiest sites. For the Kingdom’s policymakers, actual success in such mediation efforts is ultimately less significant than the appearance of concern and proactive effort: ”merely the posture sufficed, giving them credit for playing the mediating role, and gaining them the trust of the parties that were coordinated.”
Historically, several factors have prompted the Saudi leadership to pay special attention to the Lebanese crisis and seek to resolve it. To begin with, the fractured republic’s chronic instability does not sit well with the Kingdom’s conservative default position with the latter worried about the possible spillover effects of the tensions in the former. Saudi Arabia’s first major mediation effort in Lebanon is also considered one of its most significant accomplishments, especially within the Saudi foreign policy establishment. In September 1989, 62 surviving members of Lebanon’s 1972 Parliament met in Taif, Saudi Arabia, and sought to work out a formula for ending the Lebanese conflict. The Kingdom have resorted to its considerable financial and political clout to convince the Lebanese and Syrian disputants to attend the negotiations in Taif. The meeting was preceded by an intensification of the conflict and Syria’s imposition of a naval blockade on Lebanon’s Christian ports, followed by renewed international attention and a stalemate in the fighting.
In 1981 Crown Prince Fahd (later to become the king) offered an alternative, comprehensive peace plan, hailed as ”extremely innovative and progressive” for its time. At its summit in Morocco, the Arab League adopted a slightly revised version the following year. In 1994 the Kingdom joined Egypt and Syria in signing the Alexandria Agreement calling on all Arab states to refrain from signing peace treaties with Israel without these three states’ consent. By the early 2000s, it was no longer possible to ignore the Arab-Israeli conflict. In February 2002, Crown Prince Abdullah (the late king) offered a new, comprehensive peace plan for the resolution of the conflict.
Recently, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia extended its congratulations to the chairman of Palestinian Liberation Organization Mr. Mahmoud Abbas hopping that Allah will help him in achieving peace, security and stability to all the Palestinian people in his endeavor to gain the legitimate rights especially establishing the independent Palestinian state with Al Quds as its capital.
The Kingdom was the first to bring together all the Iraqi political factions under the roof of the Arab League to discuss political reconciliation. In August 2004, the Saudi foreign minister proposed to then-Secretary of State Powell to replace U.S. and other troops with Arab and Muslim forces. Alas, he never received an answer. Would that have solved the problems of Iraq, today? Now, the Kingdom keeps an equal distance from all of the Iraqi factions. Saudi Arabia works for and supports the establishment of an Iraqi government that represents all of the Iraqi people.
Arrangement paving the way for a phased peaceful transfer of power. We were in the second phase of implementation, namely comprehensive national dialogue leading to a new Constitution and elections by February 2014 but unfortunately the Houthi rebels did not respect their promise, which ended to a failure to be executed but remain until now the basic for any future solution as most Yemeni parties insist. Despite that the Saudi Arabia and other GCC States continue to follow their principles and make every possible effort, in cooperation with regional and international parties, to ensure successful implementation.
The crisis in Syria which could still go either way since the beginning of the crisis, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has maintained a clear line in accordance with its principles – committing itself to the security, stability and unity of Syria. The Kingdom have expressed repeatedly concerns at the continuation of the tragic events there, which have resulted in so many civilian deaths and injuries; it called on the Syrian regime to renounce violence and resort to dialogue in dealing with the aspirations of their people.