From Pax Americana to regional self-reliance and the rise of the Mecca Pact

Mecca Pact & India: Sergio Gor cites US stance but evades clear answer

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor was pressed on the Mecca Pact and its implications for India, but avoided giving a clear answer on Washington’s position. The pact between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan has raised questions about shifting regional security dynamics and its potential impact on India’s strategic interests.

From Pax Americana to regional self-reliance and the rise of the Mecca Pact

Driven by escalating sovereign debt, domestic fiscal constraints, and a strategic pivot toward peer competition in East Asia, the United States has transitioned to an offshore balancing posture across the Middle East. This structural retrenchment – accelerated by the collapse of negotiated diplomatic frameworks and the physical destruction inflicted across the Gulf during the Iran […]

The Mecca accord: an Islamic Nato for the Middle East?

A “tectonic shift” has taken place in the geopolitics of the Middle East, said Ilker Sezer in Türkiye Today (Istanbul). On 7 August, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan formed “the holy grail of military alliances”, with the three Sunni Muslim nations vowing that “an armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all”. That clause of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, named after the holy city where th…

Broker’s chair sawed down to stool: Mecca Pact deals huge blow to China’s Middle East strategy

Cairo, Aug 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement may validate China's rhetoric of multipolarity, but it also exposes the hollowness of its strategic substance. The post-American regional order Beijing advocated for the Middle East is taking shape without Chinese leadership, oversight or, potentially, even involvement, a report has stated. It noted that the signing of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7 by Saudi Crown Pr…