Saudi Arabia remains to be on the agenda. The efforts to induce Saudi Arabia more active and extraordinarily into Middle East-centred power game will continue to intensify domestically and internationally. “Perception operations” or “perceptual overlaps” are indeed pointing to this development.
It seems that there are attempts to build a controlled system of caliphate in the Islamic world under the pretext of “Moderate Islam” by building on “US Islam” and “German Islam”, models.
It is understood that since the “Sunni-Shiite conflict” failed to divide Sunnis into Wahabi / Salafi currents an old scheme that builds upon power struggle/competition and the lack of authority the Islamic world has been reinitiated. With this plan, the Islamic world is once again redesigned according to the principle of “divide-and-conquer”.
This effort aims to sabotage “the ascension of Islamic Geopolitics” while putting an end to the question of leadership in the Islamic world and establishing an authority of “Islamic Vatican” whereby Muslims will be directed behind the scenes.
Furthermore, it is aspired to categorise Islam as a “distorted religion”. The most basic motivations for this is the current situation of Muslims in the region and some “clergymen” and “imams of holy places” are indeed once again play their part of the role.
Of course, it is not possible to keep all Muslims under suspicion in this dirty, bloody, filthy battle between right and wrong. Therefore, the wheat has to be separated from the chaff. This process includes the transformation in Saudi Arabia and other countries, as well as some allegations and those who consider themselves “spokespersons” for this change.
Which Saudi Arabia?
This once again leads us to the Saudi Arabian based scheme. In this context, Saudi Arabia is considered as the last domicile of the “Greater Middle East Project” (GMEP). The scheme and the essence of the plan executed in the country are as follows: Saudi Arabia, which has begun to go out of control, is being supervised to through domestic turmoil and pushed to war with Iran on international ground.
The redesigned map of Saudi Arabia has been included in the article of lieutenant colonel Ralph Peters in the magazine “Armed Forces”.This map can also be called as a “Neo-Con Map”.
In this map, Saudi Arabia is divided into four parts. Those who desire can have a look at the map, however, to brief; In line with the spirit of the “Moderate Islam Project”, an “Islamic Vatican” centred on Mecca and Medina is being built. The other sections are still in the foreground as a field of instability; just as Sykes-Picot promised. However, this map is impossible to implement, since there have been tremendous changes in Saudi Arabia over the decade.
The Game is Different
As promulgated on Sputnik; Dmitriy Shugayev, director of the federal service, FSVTS responsible for Russia’s military and technical co-operation, told Rossiya 24 television that, “agreements with Saudi Arabia on the air-defence system and other key issues had been reached”. However, Shugayev did not provide information on the model of the air defence system. Previously, FSVTS officials said Russia and Saudi Arabia had agreed on a deal for S-400 air defence systems, and that contracts would be signed soon.
For those who did not understand, this news piece contains a lot of messages such the impact of domestic development on the foreign policy and the extent to which Saudi Arabia is in a real sense of threat perception. There is one more thing, and that is; developments in Saudi Arabia are in parallel with Turkey, and the “Turkish Model”. The Turkish experience is of great importance for the whole region.
Turkey: The Dynamic Factor of Change
Another critical issue is the security insurance that Turkey puts forth. What this insurance meant was tested in Qatar. After this test, showdowns against the US looks is likely to grow further, and Russian experts believe in this too.
For instance; Russian-based Pacific National University lecturer Prof. Ildus Yarulin has made the following determinations about the meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin: 1) There are significant changes in the distribution of power in the Middle East. Besides Russia, the role of other regional actors is gaining importance. 2) An active change in the Middle East is inevitable, and the US is losing ground. 3) Excellent relationship between Russia and Turkey created a positive atmosphere for many problems in the Middle East. The Turkey-Russia duo led to the formation of a new group, such as the involvement of Iran in this process.
In essence; the reality of a “New Middle East” and the involvement of Saudi Arabia in this formation as an actor is not being digested; just like the “New Turkey” process. The process of “New Middle East” and “New Saudi Arabia” fails to get the approval of the old status quo. This is also the cause of external reaction and the domestic resistance. Therefore, the process should be monitored and evaluated in a calm manner; just like it was in the Qatar-Saudi Arabia crisis among others.
