Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-sits-fence-over-brics-with-eye-vital-ties-with-us-2025-05-08/
After attending a BRICS meeting in Brazil last week, Saudi Arabia has held off from formally joining the economic alliance. Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States is a major reason that it has not yet joined the economic bloc. Saudi Arabia was invited to join BRICS in 2023, leaving the country in diplomatic gridlock, not willing to risk either future economic relations or diplomatic relations with the US. BRICS, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, formed in order to counter the dominance of the Western world, specifically the US and the EU. It also included the UAE, Indonesia, and other emerging economies. BRICS seeks to move away from the US dollar and has even taken action towards establishing its own form of currency. It cannot yet form a coherent body in terms of the security, economic integration, or the provision of public goods. However, Riyadh is extremely weary of risking US anger and animosity. Saudi Arabia’s balancing act of relations between China, its largest oil export, and Washington, its major security partner, is continuously made more precarious by the US and Chinese divide. The Kingdom values relations with BRICS and member countries because it has to value economic partnerships around the globe, but the approaching US visit to Saudi Arabia could bring with it an arms package worth over $100 billion. Saudi Arabia currently has leverage over both global entities, the Western world and BRICS.
This article is important because it demonstrates the pivotal position of Saudi Arabia in the global community right now. Able to both form economic relations with BRICS and member countries as well as take advantage of security and diplomatic resources from the United States. In terms of the region as a whole, Saudi Arabia is a very powerful hegemon in the Middle East, rivaled only by Iran. Iran is engaged in relations with the Chinese and Russians, major economic and political opponents of the US. If Saudi Arabia were to become a member of the economic bloc, it would deteriorate relations with the US both in terms of diplomatic affairs and resources, including the military support that the US provides Saudi Arabia. President Trump’s upcoming visit to the Kingdom will put the Saudi-American partnership at the center of discussion, as security, investment, and military technologies make up the foundation of the bilateral relationship.
For the time being, Saudi Arabia will not formally become a member of BRICS because of the effect that it would have on relations with the United States. However, Saudi Arabia will continue to value relationships with BRICS member-states, namely China. Beijing is a major trading partner and the leading recipient of Saudi Oil. From 2020 to now, trade between China and Saudi Arabia has increased approximately 50.3% per year. However, historic relations with the United States have been a foundation of Saudi foreign affairs, and BRICS would interfere/counteract a large number of US goals in both the Middle East and the global economy.
In class, we have been discussing major IGOs and the authority that they have; in this session we have focused on the United Nations and the ICC/ICJ, as well as human rights violations. China and Russia, two founding nations of BRICS, have both been accused of human rights violations, including Russia’s crimes of aggression and war crimes in the conflict in Ukraine, and China’s acts of genocide against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. For Saudi Arabia to work with those states, who are already economic and ideological opponents to the US, it would lead to large breaks in Saudi-American relations. Moreover, BRICS is an economic multilateral alliance between countries, which leads to unity between certain groups, countries, and ethnicities that may not have previously had an opportunity to engage.