Abstract
Over the past two decades, several narratives about the creation of a new Middle Eastern regional order have appeared in academic and journalistic circles. The main aim of this chapter is to assess the relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia who have gradually assumed important roles in the emerging strategic environment. After exploring the ongoing transformational procedure in the context of the Arab revolts, the analysis focuses on the respective foreign policies of Ankara and Riyadh over four issues of regional significance: the Syrian war, the Iraqi conflict, Iran's containment and finally the intra-Sunni competition. These fields of interaction create incentives for both cooperation and conflict between the two regional powers who are seeking to extend their influence throughout the region. In order to grasp the security dynamics of this area, a regional approach of international politics is applied.
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Notes
- 1.
The term was introduced in 2006 in Tel Aviv by the then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who wished to replace another term, namely, the “Broader Middle East.” For more details, see Ottaway and Carothers (2004).
- 2.
Among the most important non-state entities are the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, Hamas in Gaza, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi movement in Yemen, and the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
- 3.
In this regard, some scholars include the region of North Africa as well as Afghanistan into a wider Middle Eastern subsystem. The arguments in favor of this methodological choice have been reinforced after recent regional developments, when the 2010–2011 revolutionary waves from Tunisia moved eastward and affected almost every state of the wider Middle East. Nevertheless, in this study, it is argued that separating North Africa from the Middle East remains the more appropriate and helpful choice for the analysis.
- 4.
Gregory Gause III (2011, p. 16) has described this situation as “the Saudi Losing Streak.”
- 5.
A serious deterioration was caused after Riyadh blamed the Syrian regime for the assassination of Riyadh’s ally in Lebanon, Rafik Hariri.
- 6.
It should be mentioned here that one of the most significant evolutions during the Syrian crisis has been the withdrawal of Hamas from Syria and the possible consequent loss of the Palestinian constituent of the Iran-led axis.
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Zarras, K. (2018). Assessing the Regional Influence and Relations of Turkey and Saudi Arabia After the Arab Spring. In: Işıksal, H., Göksel, O. (eds) Turkey’s Relations with the Middle East. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59897-0_8
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