Just a few short weeks ago, the Middle East held its breath as Saudi Arabia finally appeared to pick a side. Now the kingdom is discovering just how poorly it chose.
For years, ever since the United Arab Emirates joined the Abraham Accords, Saudi Arabia played a double game, walking the line between two regional blocs: the moderate Israeli-American-Emirati axis and the regional regimes with Islamist and extremist ties.
A few weeks ago, the Saudis signed a mega-deal described as a trilateral regional security agreement with Pakistan and Turkey, two countries with pronounced Islamist and extremist leanings. Numerous headlines sold the agreement as a "Middle Eastern NATO alliance," referencing clauses stipulating that an attack on one would be considered an attack on all.
But now it turns out the paper was worth far more than the words written on it. In recent days, Turkey and Pakistan have sent messages to Saudi Arabia making clear they will not participate in any campaign against the Houthis, even as attacks inside Saudi territory intensify daily and the Houthi rebels pose a greater threat to the kingdom than ever before.
According to quotes conveyed to the media, Turkish and Pakistani officials made unambiguous statements that they have no intention of taking part in combat. They further claimed that "the language of the agreement does not mandate mutual defense in every conflict" and argued it cannot be invoked except in cases of existential threat to the state.
