Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington comes at a particularly turbulent moment for the region. The war in Gaza has reshaped the balance of power. Iran is in retreat after successive blows to its military and political power structures; Syria is entering a new phase with the rise of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the governance frameworks of Lebanon have fractured.
As for the United States, it is returning to direct engagement with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, breaking with the hesitation of the past few years.
In this landscape, the visit has redefined the Saudi-American relationship beyond the traditional oil and security equation through deep engagement centered on a new triad: security, economy, and regional stability. This approach is redrawing the lines of influence in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia is growing in confidence and becoming a key actor in shaping the new balances. Driven by its political and economic vision for the future, the Kingdom is seeking to shield its own transformation and consolidate a stable environment for investment in the region.
For its part, Washington needs a partner capable of addressing the shifts from Gaza to Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad, and Sanaa.
Against this backdrop, the relationship between Riyadh and Washington will be assessed on its ability to craft a formula for security and stability that transcends the logic of classical alliances and responds to the unraveling of axes through new security arrangements.
The results of the visit reflected the degree of political convergence between the two sides, and beyond that, the depth of their need for one another. The US announcement that Saudi Arabia would be granted the status of a “major non-NATO ally” constitutes a strategic decision to re-anchor Riyadh within the American security architecture.
Washington’s approval of a civilian nuclear energy partnership between the two countries marks a turning point in this respect. The most significant, however, was the approval of a deal to sell F-35 fighter jets to the Kingdom. This development is not another arms deal; it indicates that Washington has backed the expansion of Saudi power in the region, reinforcing stability and neutralizing the influence of competing powers whose capabilities have receded.
Economically, the investments the Kingdom haspledge to make in the United States have risen to about one trillion dollars. Their growing cooperation includes artificial intelligence, advanced technologies, and clean energy, reflecting a shift to a stronger partnership.
And although no final details were announced regarding Gaza, Syria, and Sudan, the messaging also pointed to convergence: supporting the transitional phase in Gaza, deeper coordination on Syria’s reintegration into the Arab fold, and the pursuit of an immediate and comprehensive cessation of fighting in Sudan. Lebanon, for its part, was notably ignored.
The visit has several significant implications: Saudi Arabia’s role is no longer limited to filling the vacuum left by the decline of Iran’s influence in the region; it now extends to filling the strategic vacuum created by Israel’s lack of political vision, particularly after the Gaza war and its systematic failure to define a trajectory for the “day after.”
The new landscape consolidates Riyadh’s position as a regional power, allowing it to develop political frameworks for resolving the problems after Tel Aviv failed, especially regarding the path toward a Palestinian state. Accordingly, the visit can be seen as a recalibration of the regional balance following the events of October 7, 2023, and the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Moreover, for the first time, the Trump administration has recognized the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and proposed a process aimed at establishing a Palestinian state. This unprecedented shift cannot be understood in isolation of Saudi Arabia’s weight and influence.
Most importantly, the visit appeared to break the notion of Israel’s “special status” in the US. Washington has now brought its partnership with Riyadh to the forefront, adopting a remarkably balanced approach to the Palestinian question, appearing less aligned with the longstanding principle that Israel’s privilege is untouchable.
In sum, the visit cemented a new equation: Saudi Arabia is no longer an actor that merely receives guarantees; it has become a partner in shaping a broader regional security strategy. And the United States is no longer a solo act in the region but a power seeking to build a new architecture through selective partnerships led by Riyadh.
In other words, the relationship is being built on considerations that go beyond the present moment to tie into the re-engineering of the region.
In this sense, the visit can be seen as an important step within the broader trajectory of Saudi Arabia’s shifting role in the region. The regional order is being redrawn, and the role of the US is no longer constrained in the way it had been before the Gaza-war or during the era of the “Axis of Resistance.”
It will not be long before we see whether this new partnership will become a force for durable stability or remain a flexible framework upon which gradual settlements are built to draw the contours of the new Middle East that is taking shape.
Will the Israeli government adapt to the new realities and end its obstruction efforts? The answer lies in Washington, which has strongly invested in the region’s stability and now, for the first time, has a real opportunity to achieve peace. Squandering this opportunity would be a grave setback.
