On July 8, Saudi time, before the deadline set by the World Trade Organization for the nomination of candidates for director-general, the Saudi government announced the nomination of the adviser to the Saudi Royal Office and former Minister of Economic Planning, Mohamed Tuweiri, as the new candidate for the WTO director-general. . To show enthusiasm for the position of "head" of a global organization, which is very rare for the "oil kingdom" Saudi Arabia. The Saudi delegation emphasized in the memorandum submitted to the WTO that Saudi Arabia firmly supports the multilateral trading system and the core role played by the WTO in the system, while Tuweili himself bluntly stated at the subsequent WTO conference that the organization is In recession, and reform is more necessary than ever," he said, looking forward to leading this organization to "focus on success."
Although Tuweiri has worked in banks and investment institutions such as HSBC and JP Morgan Chase, and served as the head of the Saudi State Statistics Bureau, Minister of Economic Planning and cabinet members, the other candidates are not many in comparison. Let, especially the two former senior female officials of international organizations from Egypt and Nigeria, have extensive work experience in the field of international economics and foreign trade. As for who the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization will end up with, the prediction results of all parties are different, but no matter what Whether Tuweiqi can win the election, Saudi Arabia has shown its determination and willingness to increase its influence on a global scale.
Such determination and willingness are also largely reflected in the Saudi government's attitude towards the media. Reporters have served as reporters in Saudi Arabia for more than five years. Except for activities closely related to the relations between China and Saudi Arabia, the number of interviews with officials at or above the ministerial (minister) level of Saudi Arabia is rare. Most of the foreign journalists based in Saudi Arabia have similar experiences. Some people even list Saudi officials as the “most difficult group in the world to interview”. For this reason, when Tuweikiri took the initiative to contact When a number of foreign journalists based in Saudi Arabia, including reporters, said they could be interviewed, everyone's first reaction was both joy and surprise.
It is not just the World Trade Organization. According to the current government information, Muhammad Tuweikiri is the first candidate for the head of a global international organization directly nominated by Saudi Arabia, and this seems to be in line with the number from 2015. For ten years, Saudi Arabia's consistent "low-key" foreign policy. As national security has been under the protection of the United States for a long time, Saudi Arabia has always "silently" used its political and economic power to influence the surrounding Gulf and Arab countries. Perhaps the farthest point it can see is Islam in Southeast Asia. Country (The headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is located in Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia).
Even the last Saudi secretary-general of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is closely related to its own interests, dates back to 1967. King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was respected by the international community for showing the energy of the desert kingdom in the oil embargo in 1973. The embargo directly caused Western capitalist countries to encounter the first oil crisis in history, and the US GDP that year It is said that it fell by 4.7%, but in fact, Saudi Arabia and other Arab oil-producing countries also passively made this choice because of the US military aid to Israel in the Yom Kippur War. The Saudi leaders have always been very cautious about using oil as a weapon to pressure their opponents until the oil price war in March 2020.
On the surface, the adjustment of Saudi Arabia's foreign policy from "Buddhism" to "working hard" is only a matter of five years. In other words, it almost started at the same time as the young prince Mohammed bin Salman became the crown prince. In addition to vigorously supporting the government represented by Yemeni President Hadi and forming an alliance to launch military operations against Yemen’s Houthis, from the four-nation alliance with Saudi, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates that boycott Qatar, to the Islamic anti-terrorist military alliance, the Red Sea and Aden From the Council of Gulf Coast Countries to the "Middle East Strategic Alliance", which is the Arab version of "NATO", there are at least four international cooperation and coordination mechanisms that Saudi Arabia has and is in the process of establishing.
Although we can still see the Arab "NATO" cooperation mechanism with obvious shadow of the United States, it is subdivided. From the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar to the anti-terrorist military alliance with "Islam" as its common core value, Saudi Arabia clearly values its independence. The "Jiangshan" who worked hard, and such "Jiangshan" is also created by the times. After the outbreak of the Arab Spring, the influence of some traditional powers gradually declined. Saudi Arabia gradually saw the hope of leading the Middle East and hoped to get support from traditional allies. However, since the Obama administration, the conflict between the United States and Saudi Arabia began to worsen. More and more, especially the signing of the Iran nuclear agreement, which Saudi Arabia regards as a serious violation of its core interests. After Trump came to power, the Saudi side released its goodwill with huge arms sales orders, but it did not exchange the US's full commitment. Instead, it only continued to regard it as the grasper of its own Middle East strategy and the market for weapons and equipment. Trump Zeng threatened, "Without the support of the United States, Saudi Arabia will not survive for two weeks." I want to turn my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the ditch. Although the current situation of high military dependence on the United States cannot be fundamentally changed, politically and economically, Saudi Arabia has already made other preparations early on.
Among the many international cooperation mechanisms, the newest and largest, and at the same time, the one that Saudi Arabia is most proud of now is the Group of Twenty, which holds its annual rotating chairmanship in 2020. Although Saudi Arabia’s economic strength among the 20 countries is only significantly stronger than that of South Africa and Argentina, and is on par with Turkey, starting from its rotating presidency at the end of 2019, “Saudi Arabia leads the G20” and even “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia leads the world economy. Titles such as "Development" have been constantly appearing in the local media. Regardless of dreams or visions, as the first Arab country to assume the rotating chairmanship of the G20, Saudi Arabia has already made history. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally formulated the slogan "Discover 21st Century Opportunities for All" for this year, and after taking over the rotating presidency, especially after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, Saudi Arabia initiated and hosted the conference The G20 Leaders’ Special Summit and dozens of ministerial meetings before and after it provide a multilateral exchange platform for heads of government and senior officials who cannot meet at a special stage. This platform appears to be facing major challenges in the current globalization process. Especially rare.
The G20 is the place where all parties play in the financial and financial fields. When the multilateral trading system and the international trade order encounter unprecedented shocks, the World Trade Organization where Tuweikiri is running for director-general is even more a battlefield. In the eyes of the outside world, one of the important reasons why the current WTO Director-General Azevedo left early is that the open trade and international cooperation advocated by him are irreconcilable with the international trade disputes provoked by US President Trump. contradiction. When meeting with reporters, Tuweikiri repeatedly emphasized that if he can be elected as Director General, he will push all members to reach consensus and implement reforms. This is the common goal of almost all candidates, but achieving this goal is far more difficult than proposing this goal.
The Saudi media are very optimistic about Tuweikiri's campaign path. A comment published in the Middle East newspaper, funded by the Saudi consortium and headquartered in London, United Kingdom, stated that Saudi Arabia’s annual rotating chairmanship of the Group of Twenty is beneficial to Tuweikiri, but the article also acknowledges the victory of the election. The difficulty is considerable, but "it is important to have the opportunity to nominate candidates for heads of international organizations. Saudi Arabia must have a place in these (international) organizations, whether they are political or economic." As a former Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilot, it would be a good thing for Saudi Arabia if Tuweikiri could successfully enter the cockpit of this large WTO aircraft. Even if he was not elected, it was demonstrated by the government’s nomination of him. Attitude is also very important for diplomacy, especially in the context of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and the continued decline in oil prices, Saudi Arabia has to come up with new weapons. (Headquarters reporter Li Chao)