Why is there a "wave of reconciliation" in the Middle East?
Beijing, 3 Mar (ZXS) -- Why has the "tide of reconciliation" set off in the Middle East?
China News Agency reporter Bo Wenwen
Recently, "reconciliation diplomacy" in the Middle East has appeared frequently, and multinational relations have shown a "warming" trend.
This month, Saudi Arabia and Iran reached an agreement in Beijing to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Turkish foreign minister visited Egypt for the first time in more than a decade, and the Syrian president visited the United Arab Emirates... The frequent news of "ice-breaking" in the Middle East cannot help but ask: Why did this "wave of reconciliation" come about?
There are three major trends in the "tide of reconciliation"
Dong Manyuan, an expert on the Middle East issue and researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said in an interview with China News Agency that this round of "reconciliation waves" in the Middle East has unfolded from three levels.
First, relations between regional "old adversaries" have eased. For example, Dong Manyuan said that the improvement of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the "old enemy" of the past, is not only conducive to easing regional tensions on a large scale, but also affects the easing of relations between Arab countries and non-Arab countries such as Turkey.
Second, unity within Arab countries has been restored. "Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other Arab countries have begun to ease relations with Syria, which will help the Arab world form a joint force, which is beneficial to regional development and the development of multipolarity in the world."
Third, relations between Arab countries and Israel have "warmed up." Dong Manyuan said that since 2020, Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have successively established diplomatic relations with Israel, and driven by the "reconciliation tide" in the Middle East, a group of Arab countries have now carried out contacts with Israel through various channels, or will develop substantive relations or even normalize relations.
Dong Manyuan noted that this round of "reconciliation tide" is mainly characterized by improving the security environment. "These three major easing trends have greatly improved the regional security environment, and the improvement of the security environment is equivalent to the improvement of the development environment, which provides relatively suitable regional conditions for Arab countries to fully return to the theme of development."
Internal and external factors promote "recovery"
Analysts believe that the implementation of the Middle East strategic contraction policy by the United States and the need for security and development in the Middle East are important driving forces for the "recovery" of Middle East diplomacy.
"The inability of U.S. Middle East policy to bring a sense of security to regional allies is the biggest external factor." Dong Manyuan analyzed that after the "energy revolution" of the United States, it changed from a "bundled interest" relationship with oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to a competitive relationship, which caused Gulf countries to be highly vigilant. In addition, out of the consideration of "great power competition", the United States has continuously reduced the investment of strategic resources from the Middle East region starting from the Obama administration, to the Trump administration, and now to the Biden administration. "Coupled with the serious damage to credibility caused by the hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, Middle East allies have doubted the US security commitment, creating a situation where the United States is 'untrustworthy and unreliable.'"
From the perspective of regional internal factors, Dong Manyuan pointed out that in the past ten years, affected by the "Arab Spring", the economy and people's livelihood of regional countries have generally encountered difficulties. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries involved in the conflict in Yemen have also realized that the eight-year civil war has not brought about an improvement in their own security environment, but has caused people and lost money, resulting in aggravated security difficulties and lost development opportunities.
At present, a large number of countries in the Middle East region have made development their primary task. During the "Three Rings Summit" in December last year, the China-Arab States Summit agreed to make every effort to build a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era, and deepen China-Arab cooperation in various fields through various mechanisms under the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. The China-Maritime Summit decided to establish and strengthen the China-Maritime Strategic Partnership and plan for cooperation in the fields of politics, economy and trade, energy, culture and tourism, education, science and technology in the next five years. The China-Saudi Arabia Summit reached consensus on multi-field cooperation, especially emphasizing the continued strengthening of the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with Saudi Arabia's Vision 12.
Enlighten developing countries
In Dong Manyuan's view, one of the world significance of the "reconciliation wave" in the Middle East is to inspire more developing countries to expand their strategic autonomy. "We must control our own security destiny, development destiny, and governance destiny, and take the future and destiny into our own hands, rather than relying on extraterritorial forces."
"The easing of the situation in the Middle East will help countries in the region enhance unity, revitalize the economy, improve people's livelihood, and benefit the local people." Dong Manyuan said that the "tide of reconciliation" proves that peace and development are the trend of the times, and fully shows that contradictions and differences can be resolved, diplomatic relations can be improved and geopolitical hotspots can be cooled down through dialogue and consultation.
However, "hegemonism and unilateralism remain the biggest threat to security and development in the Middle East." Dong Manyuan reminded that the United States is still trying to undermine the process of easing relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, uniting with Israel and other countries to exaggerate Iran's regional threat, and doing everything possible to set up obstacles to the Iranian nuclear negotiations.
He also said that deep-rooted contradictions between countries in the region, such as territory, resources, ethnicity, sectarianism, and terrorist interference, will continue to be challenges that the Middle East must face. (End)