Some years ago, a book now out of print appeared on the market entitled King Fahd: Genius and Diplomat. Many an eyebrow was raised at the somewhat excessive title. But the fact is that during his long life, King Fahd has shown a remarkable flair for diplomacy. It manifested itself early on, and was very much encouraged by his father, King Abdul Aziz.
Of course, when the then Prince Fahd, was born in 1923 in Riyadh, no one could have imagined that in time he would succeed his father and three of his brothers on the throne and that he would rule the dynamic and wealthy Kingdom. In 1923, it was not rich; indeed, it did not exist in its present form. It was not until 1932, when the then Prince Fahd was nine years old, that his father united the ostensibly separate Kingdom of Hijaz and the Sultanate of Najd and its dependencies into the single Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the succession later organized to pass through his sons.
Even then, as a much younger son, Prince Fahd’s ascension to the throne seemed as though it would be later rather than sooner. He had older brothers who, in the normal course of events, would inherit it before him.
Those around him must have felt, for his upbringing and early education were markedly different to those of his elder brother Prince Faisal, King Abdul Aziz’s fourth son. From his infancy, the latter had been groomed for the highest office, sitting at his father’s feet at majlis to learn statecraft first hand and, in 1919, at just 14 years of age, being sent to London as head of an important diplomatic mission — in part to congratulate the Allies powers on their victory in WWI, but also to ensure that they would not give their support to King Abdul Aziz’s foes and rivals. Faisal then went on to join in the re-conquest of his father’s territories, becoming viceroy of the province of Hijaz in 1926, aged just 21.
Had Prince Fahd been much older, he would undoubtedly have joined in — after all, he was given a name implying nobility and courage. Fahd Al Sahra (Panther of the Desert) had been a nickname used by others of his father. Such qualities were well in need during the re-conquest of Arabia. King Abdul Aziz evidently relished it, and hoped that the qualities it denoted would come to characterize his son.
In the fullness of time, the name would prove to have been well chosen; but back in the 1920s, Fahd was too young to join his elder brothers. Like them, he had studied with his father, who taught him about religion, history and Arab culture. Increasingly, however, this seemed less practical, and in time it was deemed he should go to the Princes’ School (which King Abdul Aziz had set up in Riyadh for the education of his sons) and later to the Scientific Institute in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, where he studied the Arabic language and religious sciences.
It was after his formal education was completed that his real schooling began: In the art of statesmanship. It was to be a well-rounded one, an invaluable preparation for the long years ahead of public service that lay ahead. For all of King Abdul Aziz’s sons, the development and growth of their father’s Kingdom was their life’s objective. Initially, King Abdul Aziz had depended heavily on his close relatives, including his younger brother Prince Muhammad and several of his cousins. It was therefore natural that, as they grew up, he should expect that his sons would be at his service. All had a role to play in helping to achieve the objective, although different sons were allotted different tasks depending on their skills.
It must have been toward the end of World War II that King Abdul Aziz, a skillful diplomat himself, began to see in the young prince a putative foreign minister or roving ambassador, for the first official role he gave him was as a diplomat. Perhaps he saw it earlier, but the opportunities for such a role had been limited between 1939 and 1945, with much of the world — including much of the Middle East — embroiled in a world war. Its end, however, opened new doors.
In 1945, the 22-year-old Prince Fahd accompanied his brother Prince Faisal, who by then had become foreign minister, in a delegation to San Francisco to sign the founding charter of the United Nations. This was the prince’s first official visit abroad, and it started off a passion for travel, for seeing how the rest of the world operates and what it has to offer.
Eight years later, in 1953, he was again called upon to serve the country abroad, this time in the very sensitive role of representing his father at the coronation of United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth.
This was no minor diplomatic courtesy visit, an invitation to a ceremonial event that needed to be attended. At the time, Great Britain figured large on Saudi Arabian’s horizon. It was the other major player in the Arabian Peninsula. In the south, it was the colonial power in Aden and the Hadramout; Oman, the Trucial States (now the UAE), Qatar and Bahrain — and Kuwait had special treaty relationships with it. To the north, it had a powerful influence over Iraq and Jordan, while on the other side of the Red Sea, Sudan was still under British control as was Somalia. Egypt had only the previous year ended with Nasser’s Revolution years of British Embassy control, although the Suez Canal still was run by British troops. Saudi Arabia was effectively surrounded by British rule to one degree or another. The coronation of a new British monarch was therefore an affair of the first importance to King Abdul Aziz.
If he had been a younger man, he would not have hesitated to go himself. But he was nearing the end of his epic life and had thought long and hard about who to send in his place. That he chose the 30-year-old Prince Fahd says much about King Abdul Aziz’s trust in his son’s diplomatic skills as about the future king’s growing self-confidence regarding his ability to represent the country. The young prince’s subsequent career was to take him in many different directions. Shortly after attending the London coronation, he was given a very different role: the country’s first serving minister of education, a post he held until 1960. During that time, he oversaw a massive expansion of the Kingdom’s schools and colleges. But his early experience in the world of international relations proved invaluable and his greatest passion.
It was as spokesman and negotiator that Fahd had started out and the skill learned never left him. As the Kingdom began to emerge as a major player on the world stage, it was increasingly Prince Fahd who took on ever greater diplomatic responsibilities. Although he was minister of education, he was the natural choice in 1959 to lead the Saudi delegation to the 32nd session of the League of Arab States in Casablanca, Morocco. Next year, he headed the delegation again when the Arab League met in Lebanon.
As time progressed, the prince’s skills as the Kingdom’s diplomat and strategic thinker par excellence became crystal clear. During the reign of King Faisal — himself well versed in international affairs — it was Fahd who was increasingly entrusted with the job of negotiating on the Kingdom’s behalf and meeting with foreign leaders and officials — despite the fact that, since 1962, his official function was as Minister of Interior.
The briefest glance at the subsequent chronology shows Prince Fahd as the guiding hand of Saudi diplomacy: in 1967 negotiating with French President Charles de Gaulle in Paris; in London for talks on future of the Gulf in 1970; in 1974 in Washington negotiating with President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and setting up the Saudi Arabian-US Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation.
By the time he was appointed crown prince in 1975, following the death of King Faisal and the accession of his elder brother King Khaled, Prince Fahd had fully demonstrated what could legitimately be said to have a genius for diplomacy and a profound understanding of global politics. Looking back, with the benefit of hindsight, it is evident that he had learned those skills when he was young. More crucially, not only did early exposure to the wider world whet his appetite for international affairs; it fixed in him the belief that negotiation and moderation, rather than confrontation and intransigence, was the best way to deal with the world’s problems. Since he became crown prince and subsequently king, those have been the guiding principles of Saudi Arabia’s foreign affairs.
