Introduction

For decades Western governments, such as those of the United States, the United Kingdom or Germany, have regularly emphasized the importance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner and anchor of economic and regional stability. No political disagreement or conflict of interests has permanently strained political or economic relations between key Western states and the Saudi leadership. However, there are few states whose foreign policies Western media and societies meet with as much reflexive aversion and disapproval as that of Saudi Arabia. The 1973/74 oil embargo and the continuous refusal to enter into a peace treaty with Israel are widely considered proof of the Kingdom’s “anti-Semitism” (as Arabs are Semites as well, more adequate terms would be “anti-Judaism” or “anti-Zionism”); the support of the Afghan mujahidin in the 1980s and the Taliban in the decade that followed is seen as ostensible evidence of the Saudi leadership’s desire to export religious and cultural extremism; and the alleged Saudi “counterrevolution” in the course of the Arab uprisings is taken as the ultimate demonstration of both the Saudi leadership’s anti-democratic, sectarian campaign and its aspiration for uncontested leadership in the Arab world. Whenever Saudi Arabia becomes active in foreign policy, the natural reaction of Western media, societies, and parts of their political elites seems to be that of skepticism and cynical rejection. Any Saudi international action is seen as another piece of the puzzle of the Kingdom’s alleged perfidious plan to impose its fundamentalist “Wahhabi ideology” on societies beyond its borders. Accordingly, whenever Saudi Arabia endeavored to mediate in international and intra-national conflicts, Western observers inevitably questioned the Kingdom’s motivation and speculated on its true objectives. Setting incorrect preconceptions straight is a difficult task, particularly when they have been burnt deeply into the minds of people. One is destined to draw significant criticism for swimming against the current instead of repeating and adding to the established narrative. Nonetheless, by taking a fresh analytical view, the book at hand challenges the biased picture most Westerners, and indeed many Middle Easterners as well, have of Saudi foreign policy. Based on a general analysis of Saudi foreign policy objectives, the study will mainly focus on Saudi Arabia’s role as a mediator in international relations.