Sept. 26, 2022
Alexandra Stark was quoted in an AFP article on Saudi Arabia’s diplomacy with Russia.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, told the BBC at the weekend that the Saudi mediation was for purely "humanitarian reasons" and that it was "very cynical" to think the kingdom was out to burnish its reputation.
Several of Saudi Arabia's neighbours have traditionally embraced mediation roles in pursuit of diplomatic clout within and beyond the region.
Oman has leveraged ties with Iran to negotiate prisoner swaps, including for detained Americans, and Qatar has done the same with groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in Syria.
"Turkey has also increasingly taken on this kind of role in recent years, especially in Syria and more recently in Ukraine," said Alex Stark, senior researcher at the New America think-tank in Washington.
"Saudi Arabia has also seen how Turkey has won praise and attention for brokering the grain deal with Russia and Ukraine, and may be seeking to replicate that success."
In addition to the Ukraine war, Riyadh has long been active closer to home including in Lebanon and Yemen, where it is leading a military coalition against Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
All the while, though, the kingdom is making clear its soft-power ambitions extend further than ever -- even to space, where, under a programme unveiled last week, it plans to send astronauts next year, including a woman.
It was another sign of an increasingly emboldened and ambitious Prince Mohammed.
The war in Ukraine, the Riyadh-based diplomat said, "has given him new confidence in himself".