HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal addresses:

Sensitive Regional and International Issues

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a Changing World"

8th Korean - Middle Eastern Cooperation Forum (Seoul – Oct. 2011)

Organized by:
Emirates Center for Political and Strategic Studies & Juju Peace Institute

Regional Developments

Throughout the last ten months, the Arab world and the Middle East are witnessing a deep turning point with the fall of governments, the emergence of new social forces, the re-arranging of partnerships, and the escalation of international tensions, which require a re-evaluation regarding all political angles. Although the general image of the surrounding area in Saudi Arabia is dominated by such a turmoil, the Kingdom - located in the heart of all these storms - continues to enjoy stability and security thanks to the wise leadership of its Sovereign, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the growing patriotism among the people, the continuous governmental investment for the welfare of the people, and the following of economic policies that have returned good for the Kingdom in the form of economic growth, budget surpluses and foreign exchange reserves exceeding $600 billion.

The Arab Spring

Faisal has clarified that both Egypt and Tunisia - which witnessed the first creation of the so-called "the Arab spring" - are undergoing dangerous and difficult stages regarding the restructuring, where their economies significantly retreat, and opportunistic political movements are aiming at increasing their power largely through the coming elections. Besides, the civil war in Libya and the escalating violence in Yemen cost thousands of people their lives and took development several decades back and the situation in both countries can not be predicted to a large extent. Moreover, although the situation in Bahrain seems stable at the present time, eruption of problems is possible again. The Syrian society now stands on the verge of a frightening devastating war which can be extended to Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.

Iranian File

Prince Turki Al-Faisal

He pointed that, despite the novelty of these mysterious national circumstances, there are a lot of older storms including the issue of Iran; there are many big accompanying problems like its eagerness to possess nuclear weapons, it's occupying of "three islands" related to the United Arab Emirates, and its constant interference in the affairs of other countries.

His Highness added that Saudi Arabia wishes that the Iranian people urge their leaders to follow the path of wisdom and safety at a greater degree of the track which they follow at the present time and which returns bad for them and for others.

Palestinian Issue

As for the problem of the Palestinian people, His Highness referred to the peace initiative put forward by King Abdullah in 2002, and which laid the foundation to end the enmity; it requires the withdrawal of the Israelis from the occupied territories including East Jerusalem to the borders prior to the fourth of June 1967 and solving the refugee problem by mutual agreement versus the beginning of Saudi Arabia, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference to have normal and peaceful relations with Israel. He clarified that Saudi Arabia has a supportive position to the member states of the United Nations which wish to declare their official recognition of the State of Palestine, and believes that the establishment of a Palestinian state is not subject to possibilities, but it is an urgent demand now.

Terrorist Cells

Under the mysterious conditions experienced by the system of governance in Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria, the ideal conditions for al-Qaeda and other arrangements and terrorist cells are present which helps them to take hold and spoil .. For this reason, Saudi Arabia continues to cooperate with its allies wherever they are to root out those terrorists.

Global Energy System

Prince Faisal has discussed the impact of instability and insecurity in the region on the global energy system, noting to the importance of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf countries concerning the international energy supplies. He referred to the changes in the structure of the global demand; despite the continuation of Europe and the United States to be important energy consumers, Asia now contributes increasingly to the global energy demand. Moreover, all countries seek to diversify their energy sources in order to take advantage of alternative fuel sources to enhance their energy independence on the one hand and to prevent negative environmental impacts on the other. He said that the Kingdom is looking forward to support the most prudent votes in all countries and urge their governments to work together to ensure the dependence on a variety of stable energy supplies' sources. Saudi Arabia is clearly seeking to play a major role in helping them to achieve this.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

At the end of his speech, Al-Faisal said that Saudi economic situation is quite well; the estimates of the next five years show that the oil income of the Kingdom would reach an average of $250 billion per year, and it plans to increase its stock of foreign exchange reserves of $600 billion. He added that in order to maintain the current levels of oil exports, the Saudi government is heavily investing in solar energy and plans to spend more than $100 billion to build more than 16 nuclear power stations.

He stressed that the infrastructure of oil production in Saudi Arabia has improved and is continuing to improve and is fortified against any attack. This is not only due to the increased spending in security and monitoring areas, but also due to the establishment of a strong security force of 35 thousand people from all over the Kingdom and who receive joint training with the U.S. forces. The mission of this specialized force, which was not present before 2005, is limited to protect all oil installations against all internal and external threats.

He concluded by saying that Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and the leader of the Islamic and Arab worlds and shoulders the responsibility of participating in any prudent, equitable and beneficial course to help the countries that currently suffer from disturbances in order to reach internal political stability. He stressed that the Kingdom has the full intention of fulfilling this responsibility for the benefit of all, not only through diplomacy, advisory missions and financial aids, but also through a more powerful and efficient foreign policy to fulfill its role as a regional leader.