SAUDI FOREIGN POLICY "THE POLICY OF PRINCIPLES" The Kingdom s Profile Located in the South West of the Asian Continent, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stretches more than two million Square Kilometers which constitutes four fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, with Riyadh as the capital, bordered on the west by the Red Sea, on the south by Yemen and Oman, on the east by the Arabian Gulf states and on the North by Iraq and Jordan. Situated between Africa and mainland Asia, with long frontiers on the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf and with the Suez Canal near to its north west border, the Kingdom lies in a strategically important position. The Kingdom is the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. The country s geography is diverse, with forests, grasslands, mountain ranges and deserts. The climate varies from region to region. 1
Temperatures can reach over 43 degrees Celsius in the desert in the summer, while in the winter temperatures in the north and central parts of the country can drop below freezing. Saudi Arabia gets an average of 4 inches of rain every year. The Kingdom is composed of 13 administrative regions, each headed by a Governor with local Councils to deal with the affairs of the local people in those regions. The legacy of its history, geography, political, and economic interests, form the major trends of the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as they are very important elements in the formation and effective system of governance of the state and its practices. As a result, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with God s blessings to adopted Islamic law as the basis of its system of governance, having the honour of being the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and blessed by the natural wealth of strategic importance, has enabled it to be a major regional financial center and turned it into becoming the largest economy in the Middle East. The Kingdom has maintained the principles and rules on which stands, which requires that its foreign policy should be based on the Islamic principles of the Arab tendencies and national economic interests, 2
taking into account the regional and international developments. Accordingly, international relation are given the highest importance to the service of the political objectives and the strategy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia being an Islamic state, bestowed by God with serving the holy places of Islam, is visited every year by millions of Muslims in order to perform Hajj and Umrah. This has had an impact on foreign policy and its obligations with reference to this aspect, as an important component of the Kingdom s foreign policy and an approach that was initiated by the founder of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since the beginning of its unification pace, it also laid the foundations of its policy since the beginning of the third Saudi State in 1902 under the leadership of the founder late King Abdulaziz, and maintained by his sons after him. This heritage is therefore carried through to present time, by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who through a clear vision and an insight of what is going on in the world. His Royal Highness Prince Saud al Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is greatly respected throughout the world has been entrusted with the mission of carrying out these policies. 3
The Regional Dimension The policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has well established values and principles of which the Kingdom strictly adheres to. As a result the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia focuses essentially on the Gulf region which is considered to be the first cycle in its foreign policy. The Kingdom gives its highest importance to its relations with the Arabian Gulf countries and considers this to be one of the priorities of its foreign policy in this region. This is based on the fact that the Kingdom, being a Gulf country, is directly affected by the course of events in this region, and the kingdom decided from the very beginning to pursue a unified foreign policy for the Gulf countries, with the intention to serve the interests of its peoples. After the independence of the Gulf states there was a desire to establish a kind of framework that would include all these countries and looks after their interests, this has resulted in the establishment of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which held its first summit meeting in 1981 in Abu Dhabi. The mechanism of this organization is based on an annual summit of all the GCC leaders and is followed six months later by a consultative summit for the revision of the implementation of its resolutions. The Foreign Ministers of the GCC countries hold four regular meetings every year in order to set the agenda and to discuss developments in the region and the world. In addition to that, a number 4
of ministerial councils and specialized committees meet regularly to discuss aspects of cooperation between the six member countries and the integration of their security, economic, cultural, social interests in order to formulate policies that should serve the security, stability and prosperity of the people of the Gulf. Of particular note worth to mention here is the establishment of The Joint Peninsula Shield Force, the military arm of the GCC which has recently been invited by the Kingdom of Bahrain, with a view to the protection of vital installations and centers, as part of the security agreement that bind the GCC. The second Dimension or principle in the Saudi foreign policy is the one concerning the Arab nation, The Kingdom is one of the founding members of the Arab League in 1945, and has given its Arab relations a high priority, and has sought to strengthen the joint Arab action within the framework of the League of Arab States, with a keen desire to develop and coordinate these relations so as to preserve the interests of the Arab world as a whole. Saudi efforts in this area aim to resolve Arab conflicts, using its political clout and a sound vision to maintain Arab solidarity and the efforts of King Abdullah in this area are well known to all, as well as to resolve secondary inter Arab conflicts affecting Arab unity. The Kingdom pays special attention to the Palestinian cause, which is the core of the Arab Israeli conflict. It considers this to be the most 5
fundamental issue of the all Arab people. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz unveiled his famous and generous initiative to resolve this issue which was unanimously adopted by all the Arab countries at the Beirut summit in 2002, and was named The Arab Peace Initiative. This initiative provides security and stability to all people of the region and gives a lasting solution as well as a just and comprehensive one for Arab Israeli conflict. However, Israel has not expressed clearly, to this date, their acceptance of this initiative. Considering this will not remain on the table indefinitely, we hope that the other side will accept it in order to achieve peace in the Middle East and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The Kingdom has played a prominent role in the establishment of several institutions and organizations within the framework of the Arab League, with the objective of reaching Arab economic integration, and it has also signed a number of agreements, and assisted in the development of Arab strategies, aiming at developing and deepening Arab cooperation in various political, economic, social and cultural fields. The Islamic world, is the third dimension, in the Kingdom s foreign policy, late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, had succeeded in making successful contacts with leaders of Muslim countries, which he began when he was still the Crown Prince and minister of foreign affairs, to unify the Islamic world and reflecting his desire to achieve stronger solidarity between the 6
Muslim countries. He followed this path of action more vigorously after he succeeded his late brother King Saud and succeeded in activating cooperation, consultation and coordination among Islamic countries. This was achieved through the Kingdom s embracement the Organization of Islamic Conference, which now includes (57) Islamic states in 1969. Prior to that he succeeded in establishing The Muslim World League in 1962. These achievements earned the Kingdom high respect in the Muslim world. The Kingdom was able to harness its potential to serve this purpose of which a large share of foreign aid, was dedicated to preserve Islamic culture and Islamic solidarity. Internationally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the San Francisco Charter, which led to the establishment of the United Nations Organization in 1945, and is proud to be a founder of this great organization, as much as it is proud of its commitment to permanent principles included in the Charter, and also works hard to develop these principles in practice. The Kingdom has always emphasized its keenness to support the United Nations and its specialized agencies, for they constitute a viable framework for cooperation between nations and peoples and is an important platform for communication, understanding and is an effective means to resolve disputes and overcome crises. The Kingdom insists on the basic fact that this organization's ability to perform all these roles and responsibilities will remain linked to the political will to 7
develop principles and the contents of its existing charter effectively and practically. The Kingdom, being aware of the economic and social difficulties facing many of the developing countries, attached great importance to issues of development and the support of efforts in the developing countries and continues to do so particularly in the least developed countries. The Kingdom was one of the leading countries responding immediately and extending a helping hand to countries in need worldwide. Saudi Arabia s primary goal is to fight poverty, help the least developed countries, and provide them with material and moral assistance to build their future infrastructure, believing that the achievement of development and the eradication of poverty as a moral and humanitarian responsibility. As part of its efforts in this area it has supported the establishment of a fund addressing the problems of poverty and its Mitigation, and donated a billion dollars as a contribution to this fund. The Kingdom contributes annually in various development programs: the United Nations Development Fund, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Fund for Population, the High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Fund of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, UNESCO, the organization of Food and Agriculture. In addition to what is provided by the Arab Gulf countries to support the UN relief organizations, in which the Kingdom contributes 8
financially in addition to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Kingdom has also supported, materially and morally, and contributed an amount totaling $24 billion to more than fourteen (14) agencies and organizations of development for regional and international contributions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Islamic Development Bank, the Arab Fund for Economic Development, as well as the social authority for the International Development Association and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The United Nations and its specialized agencies have praised the material support which has been and is still being provided by Saudi Arabia to poor countries and international organizations specializing in humanitarian affairs, which reached more than ninety billion dollars during the last thirty years. This led the United Nations to place the Kingdom at the top of the list of donor countries in the world. In addition, the Kingdom through its membership in the Group of Twenty (G20) continues to support world economy and stability through contributions, with the aim to pump more liquidity into global financial institutions and large funds allocated for domestic development projects, which amounted to more than 400 billion US dollars. In short, the foreign policy of the Kingdom emanates from the glorious 9
Islamic principles, the importance of its strategic location and the essential role it plays in the regional, Arab, Islamic and international contexts, being the cradle of Islam and the largest producer and exporter of energy in the world. At the end, please allow me to summarize what has been stated earlier with regard to the principles of Saudi Foreign Policy: 1. Non interference in the internal affairs of other States and at the same time categorically rejects interference of anyone in its internal affairs. 2. The basic tendency of the foreign policy of the Kingdom is the Arab Islamic one, and to seek to strengthen the capabilities of Arab and Islamic World in all areas. 3. The adherence to the moral principles derived from the Islamic faith, its values and heritage, through clear policies aimed at achieving its national interests and the interests of Muslim and Arab peoples. 10
4. The belief in world peace and the foundations of justice in dealing with nations, and the renouncement of violence and terrorism together with the belief in the right of self defense. 5. To apply caution while dealing with the international scene, and to move cautiously and in an equilibrated way and with careful show of its strength, as well as the potential of physical, human and natural resources, should be the determining factors for the Kingdom s basic requirements. 6. The commitment to the principle of legitimacy in international relations and transactions, and the respect the agreements signed with other States. 7. Kingdom stands against the policy of blocs and military alliances and calls for the reduction of arms, especially weapons of mass destruction and call for making the Middle East a nuclear and WMD free zone. 8. To follow up the successive developments in the international arena and their impact on the Arab and Islamic worlds. 11
9. Kingdom believes in the fair dealing and a free economic system, and rejects all forms of coercion, exploitation and extortion. 10. To work to realize these goals and aspirations, and translate them into effective political realities. THANK YOU 12