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Building on a long history of security cooperation, Saudi Arabia and Britain are expanding their collaboration to achieve multiple economic and political objectives under the strategic partnership that was announced during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the UK in March 2018. A joint council was established during that visit to “commit to a deeper and more strategic partnership to enhance mutual interests.” That partnership is based on four pillars — political, security, economic and people-to-people engagement. Post COVID-19 shutdowns, there has been considerable progress made on all four pillars, but especially in security collaboration. More needs to be done on the others.
On March 28, Saudi Arabia and the UK signed several security agreements in London during a meeting between Saudi Arabia’s Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif and UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Earlier in March, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace visited Saudi Arabia to meet with his Saudi counterpart Prince Khaled bin Salman and sign defense deals. On Dec. 13, the two countries also signed a defense cooperation plan in London. Together, these agreements, understandings and visits map out the growing Saudi-UK security partnership.
The two countries’ political-security relationship goes back to the 18th century, after Britain established its Gulf Residency offices in 1763 to manage its growing presence and to deal with Saudi influence in the Gulf. Their relationship was competitive, at times hostile, and remained so until the outbreak of the First World War, when Britain prioritized ending Ottoman rule in the region. This required managing that competition and defusing sources of conflict, especially border disputes.
That was achieved through the Darin Agreement of 1915, followed by the Uqair Agreement of 1916. These two instruments were superseded by the more comprehensive 1927 Treaty of Jeddah, which paved the way toward a more peaceful and cooperative relationship. There have been disagreements since then, most notably over the Palestine question, and even armed clashes, but the two sides have overall maintained a close and cooperative relationship over the past 100 years.
Last month, Wallace reiterated the UK’s “unwavering commitment” to cooperation with Saudi Arabia in support of regional stability and security. He cited the “long history of UK-Saudi defense collaboration” and a determination to strengthen their capability to “address shared security challenges for decades to come.” A joint statement issued on March 2 stressed a “common desire for closer industrial collaboration, to develop key capabilities and boost prosperity in both nations, including in support of Saudi Vision 2030 objectives.”
The main objective of this relationship is to “support regional stability and security” in the Gulf. But both are also seeking to maximize their benefits by addressing important economic goals. For Saudi Arabia, localizing military industries is a key objective of its Vision 2030, which aims to reduce the Kingdom’s dependence on oil, diversify its economy and trade, and develop public service sectors. Part of the vision is to localize defense industries with the goal of at least 50 percent of military equipment spending being domestic by 2030. Saudi Arabia’s military spending currently exceeds $50 billion, most of which is spent on arms purchases from abroad.
For the UK, these agreements are part of an initiative to incentivize greater global industrial collaboration. The defense deals with Saudi Arabia followed an agreement to expand joint efforts with Italy in the space and cyber domains and collaboration on the Global Combat Air Programme to construct a sixth-generation fighter jet. The agreements with Saudi Arabia could include a similar joint aerospace program.
The UK Ministry of Defense has recently stated that it wants “to encourage innovation in our business and attract new and nontraditional suppliers in all levels of the defense supply chain. Our military customers have put innovation high on their agenda and we expect this to be reflected in their future requirements.” The objective of sourcing new and untapped supply chains in the defense industry is predominantly underpinned by advances in technology and technical skills.
Saudi Arabia makes sense as a choice for collaboration in the area of the tech-driven defense industry. Vision 2030 has given innovation a high priority and, according to a report by the London-based consulting firm GlobalData, Saudi Arabia’s performance in terms of patents has recently been better than most of its neighbors. In 2021, Saudis were granted 34.6 patents per million inhabitants, followed by Israel (12.5) and Egypt (0.9).
Partnering leading Saudi and UK companies could be the fastest way to achieve the alternative supply chains both sides are seeking in the technologically driven defense industry. For example, part of the Saudi-UK agreement signed on March 2 is to conduct a study to find out which areas of collaboration could be worth pursuing in the air combat industry.
The Saudi-UK Strategic Partnership Council, announced in March 2018, aimed at strengthening this partnership in all areas. Regional security requirements have meant prioritizing that aspect of the relationship but, as we have seen in the recent defense and security agreements, both sides are also seeking to include economic objectives, including localizing defense industries and investing in technology-driven security solutions.
The two sides have overall maintained a close and cooperative relationship over the past 100 years.
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
Progress on people-to-people engagement has also been impressive, supported by the return of students and tourists. Tourism in particular was boosted by the relaxation of visa rules. Saudi Arabia has granted visas on arrival to British visitors and the UK has granted visa waivers for single-entry Saudi tourists and short business visits. But more work needs to be done for students and longer-term visitors to encourage business people from both sides to travel more frequently and stay longer when needed.
And more work is especially needed to meet the strategic partnership’s objective of boosting two-way trade and investment. Saudi Arabia’s growing economy is fueled by investment, public as well as private, and both local and foreign. In 2022, the Saudi economy marked a historic milestone by exceeding $1 trillion in goods and services, making it the fastest-growing economy globally and the largest regional economy. British investment could help in that renaissance.
Conversely, Saudi and other Gulf investments could help propel the British economy beyond its current post-Brexit slowdown.
One way to spur trade and investment would be to create greater awareness of the opportunities available in both economies, along with a willingness to speedily ease trade and investment barriers.
- Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the Gulf Cooperation Council assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views. Twitter: @abuhamad1