Saudi Arabia Diplomatic Profile
While deeply rooted in American security architecture, Saudi Arabia increasingly pursues transactional autonomy by strengthening economic bonds with China and Russia.
Under the ambitious stewardship of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom is aggressively rewriting its social contract and diplomatic playbook. No longer content to simply act as the world's petrol pump, Saudi Arabia is diversifying its portfolio, hedging bets by courting Chinese investment while demanding security guarantees from the United States. The Vision 2030 initiative drives every decision, prioritizing domestic economic transformation over old religious conservatism. This shift has led to unexpected maneuvers, such as the Beijing-brokered détente with longtime rival Iran, a move designed to cool regional proxy conflicts in Yemen and elsewhere that threaten foreign investment. Yet, the relationship with the United States remains the central pillar of Saudi security, even if it has grown prickly over human rights concerns and oil production cuts. By pouring billions into global sports, tourism, and futuristic cities like Neom, the monarchy is betting everything on a post-oil future where it stands as an independent middle power rather than a subordinate ally.
Key Interests
- Diversifying economy beyond petroleum dependence
- Containing Iranian regional spheres of influence
- Securing advanced American defense systems
Saudi Arabia Allies and Enemies
Saudi Arabia's closest allies: Bahrain (76), Jordan (68), Pakistan (66), Kuwait (64), Yemen (62).
Saudi Arabia's top rivals: Iran (-58), North Korea (-49), Cuba (-29), Nicaragua (-24), Myanmar (-21).
Of 202 countries, Saudi Arabia has 44 allies, 156 neutral relationships, and 2 enemies.
Saudi Arabia Relations by Dimension
Saudi Arabia's closest military partners are United States (80), Pakistan (75), Yemen (72). Most adversarial military relationships: Iran (-95), North Korea (-58), Cuba (-38).
Saudi Arabia's closest diplomatic partners are Jordan (75), Bahrain (70), United States (70). Most adversarial diplomatic relationships: Iran (-83), North Korea (-70), Cuba (-51).
Saudi Arabia's closest regime relations partners are Bahrain (90), Kuwait (87), Egypt (83). Most adversarial regime relations relationships: North Korea (-38), Taiwan (-30), Mali (-26).
Saudi Arabia's closest societal relations partners are Bahrain (79), Kuwait (69), Oman (67). Most adversarial societal relations relationships: Iran (-62), Israel (-52), Denmark (-38).
Saudi Arabia's closest economic interdependence partners are Bahrain (82), China (80), United States (77).
Saudi Arabia's closest economic policy partners are Bahrain (60), United Arab Emirates (55), Kuwait (45). Most adversarial economic policy relationships: Yemen (-75), Afghanistan (-65), North Korea (-48).
Saudi Arabia’s Allies & Enemies
Top Enemies
Saudi Arabia's closest allies are Bahrain, Jordan, Pakistan, Kuwait, and Yemen. Saudi Arabia's most adversarial relationships are with Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Myanmar.
Global Relations
Diplomatic Profile
While deeply rooted in American security architecture, Saudi Arabia increasingly pursues transactional autonomy by strengthening economic bonds with China and Russia.
Key Interests
Under the ambitious stewardship of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom is aggressively rewriting its social contract and diplomatic playbook. No longer content to simply act as the world's petrol pump, Saudi Arabia is diversifying its portfolio, hedging bets by courting Chinese investment while demanding security guarantees from the United States. The Vision 2030 initiative drives every decision, prioritizing domestic economic transformation over old religious conservatism. This shift has led to unexpected maneuvers, such as the Beijing-brokered détente with longtime rival Iran, a move designed to cool regional proxy conflicts in Yemen and elsewhere that threaten foreign investment. Yet, the relationship with the United States remains the central pillar of Saudi security, even if it has grown prickly over human rights concerns and oil production cuts. By pouring billions into global sports, tourism, and futuristic cities like Neom, the monarchy is betting everything on a post-oil future where it stands as an independent middle power rather than a subordinate ally.
While deeply rooted in American security architecture, Saudi Arabia increasingly pursues transactional autonomy by strengthening economic bonds with China and Russia.
Of 202 countries, Saudi Arabia has 44 allies, 156 neutral relationships, and 2 enemies.
By Dimension
Military
Saudi Arabia’s closest military partners are United States, Pakistan, and Yemen. Most adversarial: Iran, North Korea, and Cuba.
Diplomatic
Saudi Arabia’s closest diplomatic partners are Jordan, Bahrain, and United States. Most adversarial: Iran, North Korea, and Cuba.
Regime Relations
Saudi Arabia’s closest regime relations partners are Bahrain, Kuwait, and Egypt. Most adversarial: North Korea, Taiwan, and Mali.
Societal Relations
Saudi Arabia’s closest societal relations partners are Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman. Most adversarial: Iran, Israel, and Denmark.
Economic Interdependence
Saudi Arabia’s closest economic interdependence partners are Bahrain, China, and United States.
Economic Policy
Saudi Arabia’s closest economic policy partners are Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. Most adversarial: Yemen, Afghanistan, and North Korea.
Key Questions
Both, and the data shows it clearly. Saudi Arabia-US scores strongly on military and diplomatic dimensions — making America its most important security partner by far. But the societal relations score is near zero, reflecting the deep values gap between the two systems. Meanwhile, Saudi-China is not an alliance, but shows increasingly comfortable diplomatic and regime alignment. The kingdom is strategically hedging: American weapons, Chinese investment, and Saudi sovereignty.
Saudi Arabia's top allies are Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Pakistan, and Qatar. The Gulf monarchies form a tight cluster, with Bahrain showing the highest regime alignment — reflecting the near-total convergence between the two ruling families. Pakistan also scores very high on regime relations, reflecting deep defence cooperation including rumoured nuclear guarantees. These partnerships are defined more by regime solidarity than democratic values.
Despite the Beijing-brokered detente, Saudi-Iran scores remain extreme on military, diplomatic, and societal dimensions. The military hostility is one of the most intense in the entire dataset. However, regime relations alignment is surprisingly mild compared to the other dimensions, suggesting that the rapprochement created some diplomatic breathing room on governance-level engagement even as security competition continues. Switch to the regime relations dimension to see this contrast on the map.
Saudi Arabia has only a couple of negative relationships (North Korea and Iran), with the vast majority neutral and a moderate number positive. This distribution reflects Riyadh's transactional foreign policy under MBS — the kingdom avoids ideological confrontations and maintains working relationships with nearly everyone. Compare this to the UK or France, which have several times as many adversaries. Saudi Arabia prefers buying influence to picking fights, which produces a remarkably bland global footprint outside its immediate neighbourhood.
Saudi-Israel scores are deeply divided by dimension. Military alignment is essentially zero, reflecting the absence of any formal defence relationship, while diplomatic ties are meaningfully negative, capturing Saudi Arabia's continued refusal to normalize relations without Palestinian statehood concessions. Yet regime relations are slightly positive, hinting at the behind-the-scenes convergence against Iran that drove Abraham Accords discussions. The societal dimension is strongly negative, reflecting overwhelming Saudi public opposition to normalization.
Pakistan is one of Saudi Arabia's top allies globally, with very strong regime relations — among the highest after Bahrain — reflecting decades of security cooperation including Pakistani military personnel stationed in the kingdom. Military cooperation is also strong, showing that while America provides the weapons systems, Pakistan provides the manpower and nuclear umbrella speculation.
The data reveals a complicated picture. Saudi-UAE scores are actually negative on military and diplomatic dimensions, despite positive societal ties. Despite sharing language, religion, and Gulf Cooperation Council membership, the two kingdoms compete fiercely for regional influence — from divergent positions in Yemen to rival economic diversification strategies. The overall composite masks these dimension-level tensions. Switch between military and societal dimensions on the map to see the split.
Vision 2030 is reshaping Saudi diplomacy from security-first to investment-first. The kingdom's strongest societal ties are with fellow Gulf monarchies and Pakistan, but it maintains near-zero or negative societal scores with Western partners. This gap reflects MBS's strategy: court Western military hardware and investment capital while building cultural and economic depth within the Islamic world. The scores suggest Saudi Arabia is diversifying its partnerships, not its values.