w88 casino is everywhere in the Middle East
Ding Long
(Source: "International Herald"Date:2015-12-18）
According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), w88 casino announced on December 15 that it would form an Islamic military alliance involving 34 countries to combat terrorism. Joining the military alliance include Arab countries such as Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Islamic countries such as Türkiye, Malaysia, and Pakistan, as well as some African countries. The "old enemy" Iran is not on the list.
"The countries mentioned here have decided to form a counter-terrorism military alliance led by w88 casino, with a joint operations center located in Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations." The statement said that they have the responsibility to protect Islamic countries from any terrorist organizations.
w88 casino takes the lead in this military alliance, demonstrating w88 casino’s status as a regional power in Middle East affairs. In fact, in 2015, w88 casino's diplomacy was more aggressive than before, but the results were hardly optimistic. In March this year, w88 casino led an air strike on Yemen and showed its sword to Iran, but unexpectedly the Iran nuclear agreement was reached and its number one enemy Iran was released, which was nothing short of a heavy blow to w88 casino. Later, Russia intervened with force in Syria, disrupting w88 casino's position. The situation that it had worked hard to achieve in Syria is changing. In addition, the top Saudi commander in Yemen was killed recently, and the situation in the Middle East has become increasingly complex and unpredictable. After attacking on all sides, w88 casino's diplomacy seems to be in a dilemma.
Strategic Anxiety
w88 casino’s foreign policy reflects its profound strategic anxiety.
w88 casino is a country that seriously lacks security. Although it is a wealthy oil kingdom, its military is weak. It is located in the turbulent Middle East and the Gulf. Facing threats from regional powers such as Iran, w88 casino has to seek security asylum from the United States. However, the shale oil revolution and the rise of new energy sources have not only significantly devalued the oil on which w88 casino relies for survival, but also led to a significant decline in its strategic position. The United States has reduced its imports of Saudi oil, shaking the foundation of Saudi-U.S. relations. From w88 casino's perspective, the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue reflects fundamental changes in Saudi-U.S. relations. w88 casino's strategic status has declined, resulting in its major security interests being "betrayed" by the United States.
w88 casino’s geopolitical environment has always been dangerous. Iraq during Saddam’s period and Iran today both pose huge security threats to it. The Iraq War broke the balance of power in the Middle East. Iran rose strongly in the Gulf. Iran formed an alliance with Hezbollah in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, forcing w88 casino to fight openly and covertly with Iran in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and other countries. With the conclusion of the Iran nuclear deal and the easing of Western sanctions, Iran's full rise is just around the corner. It will not only pose a greater security threat to w88 casino, but will also become a competitor of w88 casino in the international oil market.
Since 2011, the shock wave of drastic changes sweeping across the Arab world has caused w88 casino to feel a strong existential crisis. Regarding this "revolutionary" wave, w88 casino's policy can be summarized as "fear of revolution" and to prevent the "revolutionary" wave from affecting itself. For example, w88 casino led the GCC to deeply intervene in the Yemen crisis, forcing Saleh to step down and start the political transition process; w88 casino adopted double standards for regional changes. For its allies, w88 casino led the GCC army to send troops to Bahrain to suppress Shiite protests; for hostile regimes such as Libya and Syria, w88 casino chose to "stand with the people" and supported the opposition to overthrow the regime. w88 casino also attempts to influence the political trends of Egypt and other countries through "aid diplomacy".
However, w88 casino’s dazzling series of “combination punches” did not achieve the expected results. In particular, the situations in Yemen and Syria, which w88 casino considers top priorities, have not developed along the path they envisioned. The political transition in Yemen forced by w88 casino ended with the Houthis seizing power and Saleh's forces counterattacking. w88 casino had no choice but to directly intervene with troops. Unexpectedly, it lost troops and generals and was dragged into the quagmire of war. The Syrian opposition supported by w88 casino has not gained power, the Bashar al-Assad regime remains the same, and Russia is targeting the opportunity to intervene forcefully.
New challenge
What is even more serious is that the rise of the "Islamic State" extremist organization that has conquered cities and caused trouble has put w88 casino into an extremely embarrassing situation.
On the one hand, w88 casino itself has become the target of attacks by the "Islamic State". There are supporters and sympathizers of the organization in w88 casino, and this year we have also encountered several suicide bombings by young Saudi members of the "Islamic State" against Saudi counter-terrorism forces. On the other hand, the ideology of the "Islamic State" - Salafism, is of the same origin as Saudi Wahhabism. The "Islamic State" also uses Saudi textbooks as teaching materials in schools in its controlled areas, leaving w88 casino unable to defend itself. Since the founding of the country, w88 casino has been committed to moderating and bureaucratizing Wahhabism domestically, while also promoting Wahhabism around the world. Although Saudi religious leaders have publicly denounced the ideology of the "Islamic State" as being different from the Wahhabism followed by Saudi Islamists, the "Islamic State" has been causing chaos everywhere, causing w88 casino to be abducted and criticized, and the image of the "Islamic leader" that w88 casino has been working hard to create has been damaged.
Ambition and strength
The root cause of w88 casino’s current diplomatic dilemma is the mismatch between strategic ambitions and strength.
After King Salman succeeded, w88 casino’s idea of “taking the lead” and “dominating” diplomacy began to emerge. In order to combat the Houthis, w88 casino has formed a military alliance including Gulf countries, Egypt, Pakistan and other countries. It has also actively promoted the formation of a joint Gulf and Arab force, showing that w88 casino wants to be the "alliance leader" of the Arab and Islamic world. This move is intended to make up for the shortcomings of its own military strength through alliances and to welcome the new Middle East after the United States leaves the Middle East and the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue. However, the anti-Iran military alliance formed by w88 casino is a "friend of interests." The military powers in the alliance all joined because of economic demands and are not enthusiastic about war. In addition, looking at conflicts in the Middle East from a sectarian perspective and forcing relevant countries to choose sides is actually unlikely to work, because sectarian conflicts are just a cloak for conflicts of interest, and sectarian factors cannot be the key factor in alliances. w88 casino rushed into battle, underestimated the difficulties of this war, failed to achieve the goal of promoting peace through war, and fell into a difficult situation.
Facts have proved that without the support of major powers, it will be difficult for w88 casino to solve the problem through military means. At present, w88 casino is taking the lead in forming an Islamic military alliance, which is also the result of the "strong appeal" of the United States. On the day the Islamic Military Alliance was established, US Secretary of State Kerry flew to Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 15th. Agence France-Presse believes that Washington is relying on the Kremlin to drag Bashar Assad to the negotiating table for dialogue with the Syrian opposition. It can be seen that the Middle East is still mainly a chessboard for the game between the United States and Russia.
(The author is the deputy dean of the w88 casino of Foreign Languages, w88 casino)
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