Saudi Arabia has taken the lead in an effort to reintegrate Syria into the Arab League.
This, the expert told Sputnik, is peculiar given that Saudi Arabia played a significant role in kicking Syria out of the Arab League in the first place. The kingdom, however, is first to seek the repairing of its relationship with Syria since 2011.
Khalek noted that the Chinese involvement in Middle East politics shows how dramatically regional politics have shifted in recent years as most of the negotiations, she said, were brokered by Beijing, including "a bit of truce" between previous rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Meanwhile, American overvision or even any grade of involvement in these talks is not observed, while China stands out as a neutral arbiter. Beijing, unlike Washington, "doesn't interfere in elections or tell countries who should and shouldn't be their leader." This is one of the main reasons why countries such as China and Russia are chosen as brokers.
“The fact that Saudi Arabia is turning to China to negotiate with Iran does show a huge shift in power relations in the world…” Khalek supposed.
The podcaster went on to argue that the CIA expressed frustration over the announced truce deal between Tehran and Riyadh, noticing that: "the US feels blindsided by this deal" and the fact that it was overseen by the Chinese. She believes Saudi Arabia is looking to balance among powerful players: "in a growing multipolar era, the Saudis are trying to maintain good relations with everybody."
“So that's why the Saudis, that's why the Emiratis, that's why all of these countries are trying to deal with their own neighborhood because they understand that if the US is in decline, they cannot depend on the US like the way they used to, and they have to be able to forge a stable path for the future. That might be a future where the US is not the dominant power,” the journalist emphasized.
Finally, she added that sanctions on Syria imposed by the US completely ruined the economy of this Middle East country, due to the US having overwhelming economic influence. The sanctions, however, were completely illegal by international law, as the US had no legitimate right to intervene into Syria's internal policy.
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