Nov
19
King Abdallah, Religious Harmony, and a Constructive Saudi Arabia
Filed Under MidEast Foreign Policy, Peace Deals, Saudi Arabia, religion | Leave a Comment
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdallah is set to lead a religious conference hosted by the U.N today, with the monarch providing the opening address to the event. While much of the commentary on this story has centered on the dialectical tension between the Saudis and religious tolerance, when viewed within the framework of the Kingdom’s foreign policy initiatives of late it reflects a sustained effort to improve Saudi Arabia’s image internationally, meanwhile solidifying its role as a key player in Middle Eastern affairs. The King’s visit to the Vatican, the religious summits hosted by the Kingdom which culminated in the Madrid declaration signed in July, and the increased chatter about opening the country’s first Catholic church all serve to obscure the Saudi reality of religious tolerance.
The transgressions on religious freedom in Saudi Arabia are well documented and form a list that would be too tedious to repeat in this space. The Kingdom’s international role, however, has reached new levels of stature; it has been courted by Western leaders (most notably during a recent visit by British PM Gordon Brown) to play a significant role in the handling of the latest financial crisis (no pledges of Saudi support at the last G-20 summit, but the significance of the enhanced status in the crisis speaks for itself). The Saudis have also stepped up their roles in regional conflict resolution, exercising clout in the conflicts of Lebanon and Israel-Palestine (Obama will apparently base his MidEast peace efforts on the ‘Abdallah plan’, a road map to peace drafted in 2002. A careful look at the language of the plan reveals how likely it is to work, but will still serve the Saudi’s well by creating constructive image of the country). (Update: Obama does not support the plan, according to peace-envoy Dennis Ross.)
All of this is to say that Saudi Arabia will likely be called on by the next U.S administration for help in cobbling together some sort of MidEast peace initiative, in large part due to a conscious effort since 2001 to improve the Kingdom’s international image. How successful will the Saudis be? If successful peace-talk mediation is going to come from anywhere in the Gulf, it may well be a country with a better recent track-record of MidEast solutions and less conflicting interests.
Nov
19
Nasrallah Welcome in Egypt?
Filed Under Egypt, Hezballah, Lebanon, MidEast Foreign Policy | Leave a Comment
According to a statement by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit, Hezballah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has been invited to visit Egypt “if he wants or can.” This comes after last months speculation in Lebanese and Israeli media, and subsequent denial by sources in the Egyptian government of any such overtures being extended toward Nasrallah.
I imagine that increased engagement by Middle Eastern players with Hezballah is an inevitability, however how would the reception of high-level Hezballah officials be seen by Egypt’s Western allies? And what role, besides the limited one it has already played in supporting Lebanon’s military and government, does Egypt envisage itself carrying out with regard to Hezballah?