The city of Jeddah, known in local folklore as the "Mother of Prosperity and Hardship," has witnessed significant successes in Saudi diplomacy and its pioneering role in the Middle East region as a key and effective player with a visionary approach. From this standpoint, the 42 nations hoped to share in its prosperity through the Jeddah talks on Ukrainian crisis.
The crisis is approaching a critical phase, given the results on-ground and the historical impasse. The most consequential repercussions of this situation are its implications for developed nations first and developing nations second, as it could give rise to unprecedented collapse and famine.
Despite numerous obstacles, challenges, and insidious attempts to put the conference’s viability in question, it comes at an important time and is being held in a location of even greater significance. It is being held in a renewed Saudi Arabia, seeing major shifts and recalibrating its posture in the Middle East.
Most notably, Saudi Arabia is more committed to “the virtue of political neutrality” than anyone else. This enhances its ability to explore new solutions for this crisis and bridge divergent perspectives, or at the very least, allow for a reassessment that helps us understand the polarized positions of the two parties. This is especially crucial given the impasse both have seemingly reached, as it is becoming increasingly evident that no side will be able to decide the war and declare victory or realize its objectives.
The virtue of neutrality, which Saudi Arabia and the moderate states of the region have been safeguarding since the Ukrainian crisis began, turned the Kingdom into a target of cheap propaganda. This is compounded by the fact that the concept is fundamentally misunderstood and often mistaken for a cynical approach to conflicts, but nothing could be further from the truth. Real neutrality is the polar opposite of pragmatic and selfish politics, which is glaring in some Western discourses.
Neutrality is founded on independent policies of countries that do not take their cues from the parties to the conflict. The approach to neutrality taken by Spain, Switzerland and Sweden during World War II is one example. Today, Saudi Arabia can take a more objective approach because of how the concept has evolved. Moreover, Saudi Arabia, the moderate countries of the region, and others like India, South Africa and Latin American states have positive relations with both Ukraine and Russia.
They have avoided taking sides or becoming embroiled in the binaries that other countries are paying the price for today. In fact, the countries that have this black-and-white approach have been heavily criticized by their intellectuals and political scientists, and their policies are resented by their populations, whose living conditions have taken a hit.
China’s participation in the Jeddah talks made the situation more balanced. It is among the countries closest to Russia and can play a larger role in facilitating settlement. The settlement should not ensure either side a victory but carve a way out of the impasse, especially given the positive statements made by all parties, including China. It praised the talks for “strengthened international consensus” and wants to build on Saudi Arabia’s successes by supporting a third round of peace talks. China’s presence at the Jeddah talks and its absence from those held in Copenhagen are signs of the major shifts in how Middle and Near East countries engage with neutrality and sovereign diplomacy.
Russia, in turn, is open to the Jeddah talks and a diplomatic settlement for the Ukrainian crisis. It is ready to engage with serious proposals.
Today, Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of global diplomacy because of its exceptional standing, neutrality, and its vision for peace and the future. Beyond its successes, it has become a model for the Middle East. Hence, the success of the Jeddah meeting is owed to managing how the political process to end the war was managed and the Kingdom’s efforts to enhance global peace and security, reduce risks, and mitigate the repercussions of complex conflicts, especially economically.
To conclude, all roads to a secure Middle East that is open to the world and safe from its most prominent threats pass through Riyadh, where Saudi Arabia is playing a different, pioneering role founded on a more expansive vision for the role of moderate countries and partners in the region. Indeed, these countries share views on sovereignty and accepting differences rather than pursuing competition - another promising development that the “virtue of stability” has engendered.
