Saudi Arabia Signals a More Muscular Foreign Policy Less Reliant on the US

Saudi Arabia’s new leadership under King Salman has ramped up involvement in regional conflicts. With Operation Decisive Storm, the Saudis have launched airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen – a response to decreased US mobilization in the Middle East and a way to counter Iran’s expanding influence in the region. The lack of US support for Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring and president’s inaction in fighting Bashar al-Assad in Syria stunned Saudi leaders. Likewise, the kingdom is concerned about prospects of improvements in the US-Iran relationship as evidenced by progress toward an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program. Iran denies helping Houthi rebels in Yemen, as some suggest, but it has extended influence in Syria, Lebanon and especially Iraq where its militias are on the ground fighting Islamic State extremists. “Iranian success is worrying everyone,” suggests Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Center, as reported by Alexandra Zavis for the Los Angeles Times. “Are you going to allow this expansionist policy of Iran, this interventionist policy of Iran, to be practiced in your backyard in Yemen as well? … Enough is enough.” – YaleGlobal