Saudi Arabia: A Conservative P(l)ayer on the Retreat?

Abstract

As major events since the beginning of the Arab uprisings in 2011 have shown, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has started to regain a more active; some would even call it an aggressive role as a regional player in the Middle East. In relative contrast to the first decade of the twenty-first century, when many observers have lamented about a largely stagnant foreign policy decision-making process in Riyadh, pointing to the overly gerontocratic structure of the top members of the ruling Al Saud family, the timing and scope of recent core foreign policy decisions provide strong evidence that the Kingdom wants to be perceived as a regional actor shaping the Middle East power arenas according to own preferences and interests. To name just a few significant events: In early 2011 shortly after waves of social protests started to spread over large parts of the Arab world, the Saudi leadership promised to support Bahrain and Oman with an amount of up to USD 20 billion of emergency aid. This Saudi cash infusion was intended to maintain the traditional monarchical power base within these two Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. In mid-March 2011, Saudi-led GCC military convoys crossed the King Fahd Causeway offering military support to the ruling Al Khalifa family by backing up national Bahraini forces, which were starting to quell social unrest.