It is not unusual for President Donald Trump to kick off his first tour in Riyadh, just like he did during his first term in office. The changes that have taken place in Riyadh since his 2017 visit and his arrival on Tuesday have deepened his conviction of Riyadh’s ability to host major dates and meetings. The dates are open to the future, stability, investment, security and prosperity and keen on putting behind them conflicts of the past that have torn maps apart and depleted resources and capabilities.
The dates in Riyadh do not concern it alone, but the Arab and Islamic world given Saudi Arabia’s political and economic might and the attractiveness of the model of reform and development it has offered through its Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia and the United States share an old relationship and long story. It is a relationship that is built on interests and a partnership that is capable of overcoming differences along the road and coming back together after the dark clouds have gone. Riyadh doesn’t need a reminder of the importance of the partnership it shares with the world’s sole superpower regardless of talk about a multilateral world. The same can be said of Washington and the importance it places on the relationship with Riyadh.
The Saudi leadership’s realization of the importance of the broad partnership with the US did not lead it to limit its relationship to it alone. In recent years, Riyadh has consolidated strong ties with Moscow, Beijing, New Delhi and other influential capitals. Saudi Arabia’s weight grew in the G20, as well as in its natural surroundings.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strong ties with Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping did not undermine relations with the US; rather, they helped in consolidating them. Several developments have demonstrated that Riyadh is employing its arsenal of strong international relations to encourage the resolution of conflicts involving major powers, as demonstrated in Ukraine.
The dates in Riyadh do not concern it alone. They concern the Palestinians, who want an end to the ongoing Israeli aggression that is on the verge of sparking a new Nakba. Trump is obviously the sole party capable of preventing Benjamin Netanyahu from forging ahead with his hostile policy of making the two-state solution impossible to achieve or putting it out of reach.
The dates in Riyadh also concern Ahmed al-Sharaa's Syria. The establishment of normal stable rule in Syria hinges greatly on lifting American sanctions and launching dialogue between Damascus and Washington. The new Syrian administration has sent messages that reflect its openness to peace after it removed itself from the now collapsed “Axis of Resistance”.
The dates in Riyadh also concern Lebanon, which needs an American role that can help it guarantee the Israeli withdrawal from its territories to facilitate the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701.
The dates in Riyadh concern Iran that is involved in negotiations with the Trump administration. The negotiations must overcome Iran’s nuclear file and lead Tehran to establishing a new position for itself in the region and developing a new way in addressing its countries.
The dates in Riyadh also mean developing the conditions that outline the natural limits of prominent regional roles, including the roles of Israel, Türkiye and Iraq.
The major dates in Riyadh are based on principles that have been consolidated through Saudi diplomacy in recent years. They include the right of regional countries to play a decisive role in building their future and their right to partnership with major powers in drawing up any new regional arrangements based on respect for international law. They have the right to resolve conflicts through dialogue and away from ethnic and sectarian confrontations or undermining government authorities through militias.
Reforms must be prioritized so that a proper investment environment is secured that would revive economies and provide job opportunities and hope. Countries of the region have the right to benefit from technological advances to make up for the years that were lost in conflict that prevented these countries from joining the train of progress at the time.
These dates are also based on the readiness of regional countries in rising up to their responsibilities and taking difficult decisions or initiatives that go beyond their direct environment - the way Saudi Arabia did in encouraging a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Trump’s tour of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar is certainly a new recognition of the importance of this region to the world economy and regional stability. The policies of progress and advancement these countries have adopted could help the region move from a state of constant tensions to waging the battle for development through the proper utilization of means. The progress will flow into needy neighboring countries that must make up for lost decades.
The major dates in Riyadh are a frank message that include a call to abandon policies that have proven their failure. Policies of closing doors to the winds of development out of the pretext of fearing for the regime or old habits. The policy of panic that leads countries to either collide with the world or remain on the fringes with dying economies and capitals that lack electricity and with universities that graduate students on the road to unemployment.
Trump’s style is based on initiatives, major turns and surprises, but he always takes interests into account. Mutual interests are the basis of long-term and firm relations. When he arrives in Riyadh on Tuesday, he will bask in the spotlight that will follow his every move and statement. I asked a veteran diplomat to briefly describe Trump’s character, and he said: “He preoccupies the world and its people.”
