In the week that followed the Jeddah Security and Development Summit, tens of reports were published in quick succession; some focused on the events, and others assessed its implications. Even the Tehran Summit that brought together the Presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey did not manage to turn attention away from the Jeddah Summit that brought together nine Arab states with US President Biden.
The Summit is doubtlessly extremely significant, as it came nineteen years after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and more than ten years after former US President Barack Obama announced a shift in the US Middle East policy, especially vis-a-vis Arab countries.
The Americans’ strategic withdrawal from the region, which saw the United States succeed Britain and France, has had political and military implications. The Americans- or this is how they saw it- appointed Israel, Iran, and Turkey to replace them in the Arab world. The Arabs were not only broke because of the invasion of Iraq and the country being handed over fully to Iran but also because of the massive rifts ensuing from the events of the so-called spring- which no one calls Arab anymore- that undermined the cohesiveness of the Levant’s regimes.
Although the nuclear deal with Iran signed in 2015 seemed to underline the status quo that the Americans wanted for the regime, President Trump’s decision to pull out of the deal did not result in significant changes because the US military withdrawal continued, and the US did not change how it behaved militarily on land or in seas and skies under his term.
Continuing along this approach of withdrawal and looking down on the Arabs were obvious during Biden’s presidential campaign, indeed, in his insistence that Trump had made a huge mistake in pulling out of the deal. This impression has become a reality for the Iranians and Turks. The Iranians didn’t seem too eager to return to the deal or improve ties with their Arab neighbors, and the Turks imitated the Iranians, carving out spheres of influence in Syria, Iraq, and the Eastern Mediterranean in Libya. Russia did not hesitate to intervene in Syria after it had been widely assumed that its ambitions did not go beyond retrieving parts of the former Soviet Union.
Why did all this happen over the last five years? Neither the Gulf states nor Egypt fell short in their efforts to restore stability and accelerate development. However, no comprehensive initiative for effective joint Arab action emerged on two issues: strategic security on land and at sea, and the restoration of control in the five Arab countries in turmoil, with their territory divided among the intervening parties that the US appointed to succeed it or over to them, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Yemen!
During the Jeddah Summit, the Saudi foreign minister reminded us that five years ago, the Saudi Crown Prince proposed an Arab initiative for security and defense. Yes, the Arab countries in the Levant have been under attack from the countries of the region and some international powers. Once again, the three powerful Arab states of the Levant, namely the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, refused to acquiesce to regional aggression and the state of affairs resulting from the US turning its back. Instead, while continuing to make massive development leaps forward, they all tried to broaden their options by opening up to China, Russia, and India. However, each of them did so separately.
The point I want to make, a matter we had noticed before the Summit and in its implications for Saudi-American ties and Arab-American ties more broadly, is this: we have witnessed and are witnessing the emergence of a new Arabism that most of the countries of the Levant are working under. It is a project for security (and defense) and development, which was manifested and is being manifested in a shared vision on the following matters:
First - the Arabs share a single destiny; President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called it “one Arab security.” Making great progress in the Arab world is the essence of this project. This time, this progress is envisioned through interdependence, working together to safeguard security, and cooperating to ensure development through integration and cooperation.
Second - the nine countries must cooperate in confronting the problems in Palestine, Syria, Libya, Lebanon and Iraq, whose prime minister had the courage to join this project, and his country will be connected to the electric grid through Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Third - that the nine Arab countries (and those who will join them) are originally US allies. However, the US (whose president admitted to making mistakes and committing sins) has at times turned its back on them and is undergoing a phase of what is called creative chaos. Superpowers cannot be the ones to spread chaos, nor can they allow it to spread. And the Arabs, despite everything that has happened, are ready to cooperate with the US on massive development projects and to build the future together. We are ready and rather need to cooperate with the United States to ensure the success of this immense development and humanitarian project, and solidify security and stability, and develop our defenses on land, air, and sea.
In return, we must work with the US on ensuring energy security and restoring global financial and economic stability. However, the Arab countries, or some of them, have opened up to other powers and have been pursuing alternative strategies (some of them military) that they are not ready to let go, not only because they facilitate progress and development but also because of their importance for strategic security. They do not need an Arab NATO or to normalize and create partnerships with Israel. On the other hand, they do not want war either, and thus they neither want nor need to join an axis led by the United States or anyone else.
Fourth - All Arabs want their region to be safe and free of weapons of mass destruction and thus do not oppose a return to the nuclear deal. They are, however, unsettled by Iran’s destabilizing actions in the region- its reliance on ballistic missiles, drones, and militias. Still, Iran is a neighbor, and they aspire to build positive relations with it and will continue to negotiate with it to this end. And the Emiratis want to send an ambassador to the country. Their condition for doing so has always been that Iran respects the countries’ sovereignty and refrain from interfering in their domestic affairs.
Fifth - the Arabs are proceeding with their comprehensive development project, which aims to benefit their people and the world. They are now beginning to get involved in solving global energy and food security problems, helping the world overcome inflation, and making major investments. However, they are not ready to take “blood tests” examining their human rights records or the rights of their citizens (!), be they administered by the US or anyone else. Those with one eye should not put a knife in the face of others. We have our values, traditions, customs and sovereignty, and we will not allow them to be undermined, regardless of the reasons.
The crucial aspect of everything that has happened is that a new Arab scene is taking shape- a new Arab project for sound and healthy relations, not only with the United States but with the whole world. President Biden’s visit was neither a success nor a failure; its outcomes hinge on how things will play out. However, one success we can be sure of is this crystallization of an Arab renaissance project.
Those looking for other indications besides the Summit statement need look no further than the visit of the Emarati President to France, which came immediately after the Jeddah Summit. The Arabs do not want to frighten the world, nor do they fear it. Rather, they all want to competently and bravely take part in ensuring our world’s security, progress and openness. The Jeddah Summit announced their intention to do just that.
