RIYADH, 30 March 2007 — One by one, they emerged from black Mercedes sedans, greeted by Saudi royal National Guardsmen and snapping photographers. Kings, emirs, presidents, prime ministers, the most powerful men in the Arab world. They walked through the arched doorways of the ornate, gilded King Abdul Aziz Conference Center flanked by immaculate soldiers in tan and green ceremonial garb. As they made their way across the marbled floor, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah waited to greet them. With an embrace here, a firm handshake there, a few jocular words with old friends and valued partners, the leaders made their way to their seats. Despite the massive chandeliers setting aglow the conference hall, the assembled leaders understood the moment of darkness in the Arab world as crises from Lebanon to Iraq to Darfur to Palestine roil the region in a web of conflicts. Their gathering had the air of an emergency meeting. After all, as the Saudi king said recently, the region is like “a gunpowder keg waiting to explode.” The question on many minds: How to defuse the gunpowder? Several ideas have been proffered, most notably the Arab peace initiative, first offered by then Crown Prince Abdullah in 2002 as a way out of the festering crisis in Palestine, one that has occupied the minds of Arab leaders for more than six decades. Leaders also discussed ways to end the sectarian violence in Iraq, chart a path toward Lebanese political stability, increase intra-Arab trade, and meet the challenge posed by Iran’s standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
Few immediate results can be ascertained from Arab summit meetings. Often, results come later, when the lofty words are matched with practical action. Far too often, the Arab world has just been left with the lofty words.
King Abdullah intends to change this. In his brief but powerful speech, he appealed to his fellow-Arab leaders to remain united, to understand their own failures, and take bold, but practical steps to remedy problems. “The real blame falls on us, leaders of the Arab nation, for our constant disputes, and our refusal to get united,” the king said. “All this made the Arab nation lose confidence in our credibility and lose hope.” In many respects, the Arab League summit represents to the world what those in the Arab world have witnessed in the past year: King Abdullah’s undisputed leadership as a peacemaker.
From brokering peace between Hamas and Fatah in the historic Makkah Agreement to engaging with Hezbollah leaders, top Iranian officials, leading European, Asian, and American officials, King Abdullah’s diplomacy has energized the Arab world. At a time of rising sectarian conflict, King Abdullah has stressed the unity of all Muslims, while other leaders continue to play the sectarian card.
The king’s diplomacy in Makkah averted an incipient civil war that could have dashed hopes of a Palestinian state for another generation. Meanwhile, the Iranian political elite’s respect for King Abdullah and the series of Saudi-Iran meetings have cooled Gulf tensions as the two regional heavyweights come to an understanding. As one US-based analyst of the Gulf region put it recently: “King Abdullah has been extraordinary. He has single-handedly restored calm to the region. There is much left to do and many challenges on the horizon, but his leadership has been both timely and critical. There is a glimmer of hope. He can’t do it alone, of course, but he is showing us a path toward peace. The question is: Will we take that road?”
Israel, thus far, has balked at the road. Rather than viewing the Arab peace initiative as the extraordinary, historic olive branch that it is, Israeli leaders are seeking to change the outlines of the initiative before sitting at the negotiating table. They have suggested that the plan is not adequate, especially on the issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. As a result, both Washington and Tel Aviv are pushing for changes.
That kind of thinking, however, contradicts the spirit in which the deal was offered, a spirit of statesmanship and courage, not needling restrictions. Few Arab leaders today have the credibility and gravitas of King Abdullah, a fact asserted by many commentators, including Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times. Even the normally conservative Washington Times described Abdullah as the “peacemaker king”. His credibility and gravitas ensures that Saudi peace initiatives are taken seriously from Washington to Tel Aviv to Cairo to Brussels to Tehran.
As one European diplomat put it: “When the king or Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal make a promise, we know we can bank on it. That’s not the case with some other regional leaders.” The Arab League summit, therefore, represented the culmination of King Abdullah’s leadership. Some commentators even suggested that the summit represented another example of the geopolitical weight of the Arab world away from Cairo toward Riyadh.
There is virtually no area of the Middle East where Saudi Arabia’s diplomacy is not at work to bring peace. Saudi and Iranian officials are working closely and “positively” together, as one Saudi official put it, to restore stability to Lebanon. Saudi-Syrian relations are on the mend after the king held a two-hour meeting with Bashar Assad that Syrian officials described as positive. The restoration of good ties between Damascus and Riyadh will ensure greater stability in the region.
The king has also been active in mending what he describes as “the abhorrent sectarianism” in Iraq. Though militias rule the day today, his long-term strategy remains sound: Denounce sectarianism and ensure the territorial integrity of Iraq. While many commentators in the West have suggested that Saudi Arabia has joined hands with so-called “moderate” Arab states to beat back groups and countries that the US has labeled “out of the mainstream” or “extremist,” the reality is more complex as Saudi Arabia actively engages with all political actors in the region. In many ways, Saudi Arabia is practicing the traditional art of diplomacy, while the US by refusing to engage with its adversaries, plays a weak hand.
With the complex range of crises facing the Arab world today, it is unlikely that the efforts of one leader could rescue the region. However, if other leaders adopted the statesmanship of King Abdullah, the dynamics would change positively toward a better future. That, in the end, might be the lesson of this Arab summit: The gunpowder will be defused when leaders shun short-term thinking in favor of courageous statesmanship.
