King Abdullah’s decision to reorganize the Saudi National Security Council represents a fresh and sound step toward upgrading the political and security decision-making mechanisms in the country.
It is a step taken in the context of the restructuring and developing of state institutions in accordance with and response to the dramatic changes taking place within the Kingdom’s domestic, regional and international environments.
These changes will have tangible repercussions on the future of the region’s security and political stability, as well as strategic balance.
The concept of national security has evolved over a long period. It first took shape in July 1947, when the National Security Act — which created a council by the same name — was ratified in the United States. Prior to the act, there were two separate conceptions of security: Internal and external. The World War II experiences quickly dispelled this notion, leaving no doubt that security was a wide, comprehensive and multidimensional concept. Security has dimensions that are not purely military or intelligence in nature. These dimensions — which include economic security, food security, cultural security, water security, environmental security, information security and others — are no less important than military security with regard to the stability of the state and society. The concept has since widened to include the efficiency of the state in the media sphere as well. Thus, the term “national security” has evolved to reflect the development of relations among countries, between the state and the citizens, as well as technological developments.
This new conception has become a necessity to cope with developments and changes in the international environment.
The process of redefining the concept of national security represents one of the most serious challenges for the Middle Eastern countries in the face of major geopolitical shifts resulting from the occupation of Iraq, which made the region a center for reconstruction, globalization and reorganization through a political, economic and cultural US-Middle East partnership. In this new environment, all countries — particularly the influential players of the region — are accountable for their regional policies.
In this context, the reorganization of an institution concerned with national security affairs is an issue of great importance to a country like Saudi Arabia, whose political and diplomatic actions bear serious implications on regional and international stability and security. Since its establishment, the Kingdom has been one of the leading actors in the Arabian Peninsula and Islamic world; it has a duty to play this role efficiently and effectively. In addition, it plays a significant role in Gulf politics and by being one of the biggest producers and exporters of oil in the world, it has a central role in world energy policy — a position that is further cemented by its possessing the largest oil reserves in the world.
The new National Security Council will act as an organizational mechanism that supports measures taken on different issues with regard to the country’s internal and external policies. Although the title implies exclusive concern with security affairs, the experiences of other nations with similar institutions showcase the difficulty of separating security and diplomacy — with the former being a wide and comprehensive concept that is essential for the stability and progress of any country or culture. The threats faced by countries today are global in nature, because they do not recognize political borders — a threat to security and stability of one country has implications on neighboring countries as well. Taking this into consideration, the National Security Council will be characterized by the following:
First, the existence of the council will not contradict or compete in terms of authority or responsibilities with other institutions of the state in spheres related to national security. The council’s mission is to develop an efficient mechanism that coordinates between the different organs of the state and its sovereign institutions, with the ultimate aim of formulating effective policies in domestic and external arenas, coordinating tasks, as well as assigning roles in order to implement these policies. Thus, it is consultative rather than executive in nature.
Moreover, the council — in cooperation and coordination with the other concerned institutions — will focus on the development of a wide and multidimensional approach to assess the country’s risks and challenges. It will be responsible to put forth a number of strategies that give the country the necessary flexibility and capability to deal with changing internal or external circumstances. A short-term strategy will be necessary to deal with unexpected or new conditions, while a medium-term plan should be developed to mitigate damages, control challenges and deal with changes spurred by the natural development process.
A long-term strategy could then be formulated on the basis of prospective developments in order to protect the country’s major interests and its security and stability in the long run.
Finally, the council should shoulder the responsibility of coordination between the state institutions and top-level decision-makers. In many countries, the national security institution has developed into a nexus between “decision-making-bodies” and “decision-executing-bodies”. Although the executive leadership makes the final decisions that determine state policy, this only takes place following consultation with appropriate institutions. By providing options and solutions to the executive leadership in order to enable them to adopt the best option, these institutions participate in the decision-making process. In this respect, the work of the National Security Council secretariat is considered vital.
In light of the serious security and political challenges that the Kingdom and the region face today, the decision to reorganize the National Security Council could not have come at a more appropriate time. The region is currently witnessing a serious and multidimensional crisis and is experiencing a gradual collapse in regional security arrangements, with consequences for the security of the Kingdom, the Gulf and the Arab world. Iraq is undergoing a massive crisis whose negative implications will be felt in the region as a whole; the Afghanistan issue is still unresolved; clandestine nuclear weapons programs are posing a threat to regional security and stability and the international war on terrorism continues to represent a fierce battle at the national and international levels, necessitating paramount coordination of bilateral and multilateral efforts.
The geopolitical map of the region is undergoing radical and crucial changes in the decades-old regional and international strategic balances. Ignoring these changes will not stymie them; rather, they will continue to develop at a pace and in a direction far beyond control. Hence, the National Security Council is now enforced with a serious and significant task of protecting the vital interests of the Kingdom.
— Abdulaziz Sager is the chairman of the Gulf Research Center in Dubai.
