Opinions | Columnists
Syrian-Saudi ties continue to deteriorate
Media in both countries are waging a war of words, accusing each other of trying to split the Arab world.
- By Marwan Al Kabalan, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 01:22 February 22, 2008
Syrian-Saudi relations have deteriorated markedly in recent months. Media representing the two countries have embarked on a war of words, accusing one another of trying to split the Arab world and collaborating with foreign powers to undermine Arab interests.
On a more official level, Saudi Arabia has threatened to boycott the Arab summit - due to be held in Damascus in late March - if Syria does not facilitate the election of a new Lebanese president. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal toured major world capitals last week to get them to apply greater pressure to Damascus to change its Lebanon policy. The Saudi government has also announced that it would contribute to financing the international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Syrian officials believe that Riyadh may have taken the key step towards complete breakdown in the relationship between the two countries. Damascus believes that Saudi Arabia has decided to support the US efforts to isolate it and force it towards total submission to western demands. It also complains about Saudi support for anti-Syria Lebanese politicians and for playing host to Syrian opposition members.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, accuses Syria of not being sensitive enough to its concerns on a number of regional issues, particularly its strong ties with Iran, lack of co-operation in solving the Lebanese crisis and its Iraq and Palestine policy.
In fact, Damascus and Riyadh have always been key players in what the late Middle East expert Malcolm Kerr called "the Arab Cold War", wherein the two countries have almost always taken opposite sides. In the 1950s Syria rallied around the pro-Soviet Egyptian regime, whereas Saudi Arabia sought friendship from the Western camp. Relations between the two countries improved only after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, to which Saudi Arabia contributed a small brigade on the Syrian front and imposed the oil embargo on western nations backing Israel.
Syria's honeymoon with Riyadh lasted until the Iranian revolution in 1979, which put the two countries once again in opposite camps. Syria staunchly supported the Khomeini government throughout the eight-year war with Iraq, whereas Saudi Arabia stood by Iraq and financed its military machine against the Iranians.
The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait brought the two countries very close to one another. The Saudis watched with astonishment as Syria supported the US-led coalition to kick the Iraqis out of Kuwait. The shift in Syrian policy led to the emergence of the tripartite axis, including Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which dominated Arab politics for a decade.
Widely divergent
The tripartite axis survived until the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Even though Saudi Arabia and Syria both opposed the US invasion, their policies diverged widely after the collapse of the Saddam Hussain regime. Riyadh accepted the US occupation as a fact; Syria rejected it and supported the Iraqi resistance. But the conflict between Syria and Saudi Arabia came into the open only after the assassination of Hariri.
The Saudi government suspected a Syrian role in the elimination of Hariri and joined forces with France and the US to expel the Syrians from Lebanon. The two countries also took different sides in the power struggle in the occupied Palestinian territories. Syria supported Hamas, but Saudi Arabia supported the president of the Palestinian authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
On Iran, the two countries are in even greater disagreement, caused by their geopolitical interests as well as their ideological stand. Geopolitically, Saudi Arabia is more concerned about Iran's regional ambitions and its quest for nuclear weapons.
By contrast, Iran is Syria's major and only ally in the region. Given its geopolitical location, Syria does not seem to be concerned about Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions. Syria fears Israel more than Iran and the alliance with it is seen by Damascus as fundamental to its national security and wellbeing. Syria also does not seem to be bothered by the so-called Shiite crescent or Iranian revolutionary expansionism. The conflict between Syria and Saudi Arabia was kept out of the public eye for the past three years. That it would float to the surface, however, was only a matter of time, and that time finally seems to have come.
Dr Marwan Al Kabalan is a lecturer in Media and International Relations, Faculty of Political Science and Media, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.
Share this article
More from Columnists
More from Opinions
Popular in Opinions
-
Opinions
Speak Your Mind: World hunger
Who is responsible for world hunger? Are there any solution?
Opinion Editor's choice
-
Jobs vital to global recovery
Higher unemployment reduces purchasing power and revenues
-
Afghan people hold key to civil society
Besides stamping out corruption, the Karzai government must evolve new frameworks
-
Europe opts for the quiet life
The new leader of the European Council got his job because he's a technocratic choice
