No visit to Saudi Arabia by a foreign head of state can ever be seen as an mundane event. That is even less so in the case of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 24-hour visit that starts on Tuesday. This is his third in less than two years. No other head of state, let alone one from a country as important as France, has been to Saudi Arabia so often. Moreover, this is not the usual visit with all accompanying paraphernalia of ministers and trade delegations. It is just the president, arriving for one-on-one talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. As such, the visit underlines the importance that the two countries places on their relationship.
Both have influence far beyond their own borders — Saudi Arabia within the Muslim world because of Makkah and Madinah, France because it is a major global power. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, has the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal, a military presence in many parts of the world, a large military-industrial complex, and is a major industrial and financial player.
Their influence brings responsibility. Moreover, there are overlapping interests — a settlement of the Palestinian issue, stability in Lebanon, peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and an end to piracy in the Indian Ocean. On these issues and more the two countries see eye to eye.
It is no secret that Saudi Arabia has had a long-standing and close relationship with the US, underpinned by the Strategic Dialogue established by King Abdullah and former US President George W. Bush in 2005. Although there was Saudi disillusionment during the final year of the Bush administration because of the lack of action over the road map, and then its refusal to stop Israel’s barbaric bombardment of Gaza last winter, and although there is now uncertainty as to what precisely the Obama administration plans to do in regard to Middle East peace, it would be wrong to see the blossoming relationship with France as a major shift in Saudi strategic thinking. Despite the Kingdom’s “look East” policy, building stronger relations with Russia, China and India to diversify its ties, the US will remain the leading strategic partner for some time to come.
It would be foolish to pretend that France is only interested in the political issues and that it is not interested in business opportunities in the Kingdom. It would be delighted if Saudis started buying more Renaults and Peugeots rather than Hyundais or Toyotas. That may be a pipe dream, although Saudi-French trade is on the rise according to the latest report from the Banque Saudi Fransi. There is certainly a strong possibility in the not too distant future of a deal on civil nuclear development similar to that with the US last year, and one on further military equipment. A more immediate outcome of the visit, though, is likely to be a closer alignment on a number of regional issues, notably related to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Most important, in the absence of any concrete action from Washington, the meeting might bring fresh impetus on the Palestinian issue. It would be surprising if that is not the case.
