For decades, Saudi Arabia’s regional clout rested on a quiet, consensus-driven diplomacy. Riyadh operated as the venerable elder of the Arab world—using deep financial reserves, religious authority, and cautious statecraft to maintain stability across the Middle East. However, since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) seized the reins of power, that legacy of subtle influence has been thoroughly shattered.
Driven by impulsiveness and an aggressive brand of unilateralism, MBS has transformed Saudi Arabia from a stabilizing weight into a volatile wildcard. Far from building a coalition of allies, his tenure has been marked by unnecessary feuds, diplomatic blunders, and a series of belligerent miscalculations. Today, Saudi Arabia finds itself virtually surrounded by alienated neighbours, distrustful partners, and fractured relations.
Qatar: The Petty Blockade That Backfired
In 2017, MBS orchestrated an unprecedented diplomatic and economic blockade against Qatar, severing air, sea, and land links over accusations of terrorism and sovereign policy choices. Intended to force Doha into submission, the siege accomplished the exact opposite. Qatar fortified its economy, deepened strategic ties with Turkey and Iran, and ultimately forced Riyadh to abandon the blockade years later without achieving a single one of its original demands. It served as an early, embarrassing display of diplomatic amateurism.
Yemen: A Catastrophic War of Choice
MBS’s most devastating misstep remains the military campaign launched in Yemen in 2015. What was promised to be a swift operation to restore the government and defeat the Houthis devolved into a bloody, protracted quagmire. The conflict triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, shattered Yemeni infrastructure, and left Saudi Arabia’s own critical facilities vulnerable to drone and missile strikes, exposing the sheer limits of Riyadh’s military power.
The United Arab Emirates: A Fractured Axis
Even Saudi Arabia’s closest security partner, the United Arab Emirates, has felt the strain of MBS’s reckless ambition. As their strategic interests diverged, long-simmering rivalries erupted into open friction. From economic competition to violent clashes of influence in Southern Yemen—including confrontation around key maritime nodes like Mukalla port—Riyadh has repeatedly attempted to undercut Abu Dhabi’s regional footprint, fracturing what was once the Gulf’s core alliance.
Lebanon: Hostage Diplomacy and Unnecessary Bans
The crown prince’s heavy-handed approach to Lebanon reached absurd heights in 2017 with the forced resignation and brief detention of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Riyadh. Later, Saudi Arabia leveraged a brief, critical comment on the Yemen war made by Lebanese minister George Kordahi to impose a sweeping trade embargo and push Gulf partners into isolating Beirut. This punitive campaign did nothing to curb Hezbollah’s influence; instead, it abandoned a historic ally in its hour of severe economic crisis.
Iraq: Fanning the Flames of Instability
Saudi Arabia’s posture towards Iraq has been defined by volatile interference and security escalation. Rather than fostering constructive bilateral relations, Riyadh has repeatedly targeted Iraqi state-sanctioned military entities and paramilitary infrastructure through aggressive strikes and intelligence meddling, stoking sectarian tension and driving Baghdad further away from the Arab fold.
Kuwait: Oil Fields and Boundary Feuds
Even peaceful, neutral Kuwait has not been spared. Long-standing disputes over the Partitioned Neutral Zone—specifically the Al-Khafji and Al-Dorra shared oil and gas fields—were exacerbated by Saudi Arabia’s heavy-handed tactics. Riyadh’s refusal to respect joint operating agreements temporarily shut down shared oil production, burdening Kuwait’s economy and creating deep mistrust between the two Gulf monarchies.
Sudan: Fuelling the Fire of Civil War
In Sudan, MBS’s cynical power plays have exacerbated an appalling civil conflict. Rather than supporting a democratic transition, Saudi Arabia engaged in predatory diplomacy, attempting to play the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to secure Red Sea influence. This double-dealing has prolonged the fighting, fractured the country, and left millions of Sudanese civilians in peril.
Bahrain: Sovereignty Under Pressure
Bahrain, long reliant on Saudi financial and security backing, has found itself subjected to intense pressure to distance itself from Emirati influence. Rather than treating Manama as a sovereign partner, Riyadh has increasingly treated Bahrain as a vassal state, forcing its leadership to align strictly with MBS’s regional whims and stifling any independent foreign policy vision.
Palestine: The Great Betrayal
Perhaps the most fundamental ideological shift under MBS has been the open abandonment of the Palestinian cause. Through state-directed media platforms, social media campaigns, and official narratives pushing the slogan “Palestine is not my cause”, Riyadh actively cultivated hostility towards Palestinian national aspirations. In a desperate bid to rebrand the Kingdom for Western audiences and court new alliances, decades of Arab solidarity were discarded overnight in favour of raw transactionism.
The Price of Reckless Unilateralism
By substituting diplomatic finesse with crude coercion, Mohammed bin Salman has systematically dismantled Saudi Arabia’s soft power. A nation that once mediated conflicts across the Arab world now stands as a primary source of friction. In his rush to project dominance, the crown prince has succeeded only in ensuring that when Saudi Arabia looks to its immediate neighbourhood, it finds few genuine friends left.