Three summits radiate from Riyadh

There is no doubt that US President Donald Trump’s decision to go to Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip as president adds another dimension to the path of relations between the US and the Saudi kingdom and confirms the special historical relations between the two countries and their people.

It also proves that the strong ties reflect the depth of bilateral relations in the political, military, economic and security fields and indicate an obvious quantum leap.

The visit is marked by three summits - the Saudi-American summit, the Gulf-American summit and the American-Islamic summit.

These meetings will discuss the situation in the region and the destruction it is suffering due to some regional countries’ flagrant interferences and threats to safety and stability.

The three summits indicate a new reality in international relations. This reality helps enhance the level of understanding and embodies the world’s respect for the kingdom and for its leadership and experience in the new era which is characterized with a drive that is based on taking initiatives that maintain Arab and Islamic interests. This drive also represents a new phase that rejects the policy of truces and appeasement.

It is distinguished for the decisive determination of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, may Allah bless him, to protect the security and stability of Arab countries from threats and to strengthen Arab and international solidarity against rogue states that violate international law. This drive also reflects a quantum leap on all levels and embodies a safe approach and the clarity of vision and aims as it looks forward towards a promising future within the national transformation plan and Vision 2030 which have put the kingdom on the path of a new phase to confront economic challenges.

Most important topics

Perhaps one of the most important topics which the leaders in Riyadh will focus on discussing will be negative phenomena and fateful issues that have influenced international peace and stability.

The first of these phenomena which attracted the international community’s attention is related to terrorism. It is one of the major topics during regional, international and bilateral meetings and it has become a major topic on the schedule of international organizations as they seek to find formulas and measures that are more efficient in terms of international cooperation in order to confront or crush terrorism or at least limit its activity via the available local, regional and international tools.

Terrorism is a global phenomenon. Therefore, the entire international community is responsible for combating it as it represents a violent phenomenon that societies have suffered for a long time now.

Terrorism is not limited to a religion or a nationality or an ethnicity or race, and it will continue to further become complicated as international communities develop, particularly following the technological and digital revolution and the emergence of social media.

The kingdom is a leader in solidifying the culture of dialogue and in spreading tolerance and openness among people who love peace and reject terrorism, extremism and racism.

The Saudi kingdom has taken many measures to confront the extremist rhetoric and ideology which justify dangerous phenomena and it did so out of its faith in the significance of confronting them. It is based on this that Saudi Arabia held an international conference in Riyadh in 2005 to confront terrorism and it has resumed its local, regional and international efforts since then.

Intellectual security

On the local level, it adopted the strategy of intellectual security that is based on protection, rehabilitation and aftercare. The Care Rehabilitation Center was established for this purpose.

On the international level, the United Nations Center for Counter-Terrorism was established in 2011 and it was launched through the efforts of Saudi Arabia and its international contribution to fighting terrorist groups. The kingdom has supported this center.

The kingdom has a unique and successful experience in uprooting deviant intellect and extremist Islamic ideology and in standing strong against interfering countries which want to harm Arab states. This is what gained the kingdom its prestigious status in the international arena.

Its efforts via diplomatic framework in mobilizing and intensifying international cooperation and collective work, in enhancing cultural openness and embodying what cultures have in common have shown the kingdom’s leading and efficient role, specifically in terms of the new base of its foreign policy towards strengthening international security and peace.

This article is also available in Arabic.

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Abdulrahman Gdaia is the former Saudi ambassador to Sweden..