D. Suhair bint Sanad Al -Muhannadi
When a Gulf-American summit is held in Riyadh in the midst of the accumulated challenges in the Middle East, there is no doubt that the event bears beyond the protocol data, the May 13, 2025 bond was not merely a diplomatic meeting, but rather a strategic station in which the features of a new alliance are drawn, in which the rules of the regional game are reformulated, within the international mobile balances.
The United States realizes – despite its preoccupation with the competition of China and Russia – that the stability of the Middle East passes through the Gulf gate, but the new at this summit, that the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are no longer the exact party in the relationship, but rather turned into an active partner, setting conditions, proposing solutions, and building visions, as the language in which the outputs are no longer the language of “reassurances”, but rather the language of “mutual obligations”.
It seems clear that Washington is now seeing that the limitation of crises is not only through military intervention or political pressure, but through strategic partnerships with stable regulations and regional influence such as the Gulf states. Gulf-American; The solutions are no longer formulated from ivory towers, but rather in light of the Earth’s equations.
For example, the summit did not repeat the theses of the abstract “democratic transition” in Syria, but rather called for a political solution that stops the bleeding, restores the displaced, and the parties are realistically integrated into the political process, in light of a growing Arab acceptance of the need to rearrange the relationship with Damascus. “The two -state solution”, a position that balances Washington’s traditional obligations and the trends of some Gulf capitals towards conditional normalization with a comprehensive security and political framework.
The joint warning of Iranian behavior was not new, but this time came within a more comprehensive security approach, which is included in the Iranian threat in a strategic context that intersects with energy security, navigation, and national sovereignty. It is noteworthy that the Gulf did not appear at the Al-Mustdidi Protection site, but rather as an initiative to enhance its defensive capabilities, and to develop multiple alliances, on top of which is the Gulf-American defense coordination, which witnessed a new batch at the summit.
Through this summit, it is clear that Washington no longer aspires to change systems or export democracy as a priority, but rather pushes towards regional stability that allows the economy to refresh, and countries have to rebuild their social contract, this transformation reflects a deep reassessment of the policies of the last two decades, as it turns out that chaos in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen did not pay fruits neither for democracy nor for America’s interests.
Simply put: the Gulf not only seeks military protection, but also for a development, technological and economic partnership, which wants Washington to realize that the time of unilateral hegemony has ended, and that the security of the Gulf is no longer reduced to military bases or weapons sales, but in empowering the economy, enhancing digital sovereignty, building bridges with Asia, Africa and Europe without guardianship.
The Riyadh summit was not a repeated page of meetings, but rather a new chapter of a mature partnership that began to be engineered – quietly but with confidence – the future of the Middle East, Washington no longer comes to give directives, and the Gulf states no longer receive them silently, we are facing an equation of balance of interests, establishes a more rational stage in managing regional files, perhaps saving the Middle East from recklessness and adventure, and returning it to the path of development, sovereignty and stability.
The next Middle East … not only with gunpowder, but with the mind, dialogue, and alliances studied
Media and academic researcher
