... its ongoing war. To Saudi Arabia, Russia is not an enemy nor a fierce competitor. It is the Iranian influence that Saudis fear the most, it is the historical enemy of Saudi Arabia, and both countries have waged proxy wars in each of Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. It is the modern “Cold War” of the Middle-East. One of the reasons Saudi Arabia did not join the Astana initiative is that Iran is a founder. The Saudis does not fear a Russian influence in Syria, but they rather fear an Iranian one. Plus, Russians and Saudis have a lot to discuss and cooperate such as Oil and Gas markets,...
RIAC Policy Brief No. 14
The events in Yemen has long remained in the shadow of the numerous crises in other Middle Eastern countries. Nevertheless, the Yemen crisis carries threats that have already started to affect its neighbours in the Arabian Peninsula and which might affect the interests ...
... regional hegemon is claimed jointly by Saudi Arabia and UAE, with Saudis providing most of the “hard” power, while Emirati contributing its political ideology and strategic vision. Even if we put aside moral and legal deficiencies of this model, both Yemen and Qatar cases question the mere feasibility of a “regional uni-polarity”: neither Saudi Arabia nor UAE seem to be capable of successfully “managing” arguably much less powerful regional players. On the contrary, political divisions in the region are getting deeper and prospects for a regional reconciliation are becoming more and ...
... Russian experts took a keen interest in the report. The speaker touched upon different levels of the issue including regional level. The experts discussed possible parameters for handling the situation and exact proposals that could be supported both by Saudi Arabia and Russia, representing different sides of the Yemen conflict. Special attention was given to the humanitarian situation, gender issue, etc.
Russia was represented by specialists from the Institute of Oriental Studies at Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, Valdai ...
... differences on the basis of the current distribution of powers, the Riyadh Group, with its retrograde tendencies, appealed to the necessity to restore the status quo of nearly two years ago.
Thus a “stagnation” of sorts that has emerged on the Yemeni front makes the continuation of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign less and less viable, especially given the Kingdom’s huge financial expenditures and its record budget deficit of $98 billion in 2015.
In this case, the stances of both parties are entirely justified. Mansur ...
..., was not so simple and clear-cut even from the beginning. Understandably, all the regional powers were keeping a close look on the events even before the first shots had been fired. That was almost a given when considering the strategic position of Yemen at the border with Saudi Arabia and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, a crucial passage for the maritime oil trade through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Photo from: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/yemen4.htm
To continue to the more interesting angles,...
... as Iran and Saudi Arabia, its key regional members, are losing the incentives to fulfill their obligations. On the contrary, they tend to support their proxies in a more aggressive manner by providing them with arms in order to tip the balance. The Yemeni conflict also may seemingly become more destructive and even surpass Syria as a priority for Saudi Arabia. Those who were initially skeptical about the peaceful settlement of both conflicts now worry not so much about the worsening dynamics of regional crises due to the Saudi-Iranian showdown, as about the hurdles that will unquestionably plague ...
... that deliberately do business with them indicates that these promises are being transformed into concrete obligations.
Besides, in mid-November this year, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of over 19,000 smart bombs worth USD 1.29 billion Saudi Arabia to replenish its arsenal, which had been depleted by numerous counterterrorist operations, as the Pentagon noted, in a statement that seems to hint at current and future campaigns against rebels in Yemen and air strikes against ISIS.
However, Riyadh does not feel that Washington is sufficiently committed to their partnership, and suspects that the Obama administration wants to balance its Iranian initiatives, which Saudi views as at best shortsighted ...
... Houthis in Yemen, oil prices rallied with Brent increasing by $3 in one day. The effect of a surprise military campaign was short-lived and didn’t produce much change in the market. Yet for as long as the security situation remains uncertain in Yemen and Saudi Arabia is involved in the crisis, volatility in the oil market will remain.
The effect of a surprise military campaign was short-lived and didn’t produce much change in the market.
In the case of Yemen, a minor oil producer strategically ...
... repeatedly uttered threats against the KSA.
The heart of the matter seems to lie in fear of the Shiite expansion.
The Saudis have long been vocal about their
concern over the prospects of a Shiite crescent encompassing Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and Yemen could now become another ally of Iran, completing the encirclement of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi response to the Houthi rise was akin to panic, as they rushed to pressure the Arab League into deciding to set up a coalition and launch an air campaign despite the risk that this approach would merely repeat U.S. mistakes in Afghanistan ...
