https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2024/11/brics-saudi-arabia-hedging-why?lang=en
Riyadh’s fence-sitting strategy reflects its desire to keep all doors open. Others may follow its lead.
At the BRICS summit last month, one leader was noticeably absent from the family photo of assembled leaders: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Over a year after the kingdom was offered membership to the bloc, the invitation remains unanswered, and the crown prince passed on attending the 2024 summit. Instead, the Saudi foreign minister arrived for only the final day of the gathering. For its part, Saudi Arabia is hedging its commitment to a group that itself constitutes a hedging club for other middle powers. The motivations driving its ambiguous strategy deserve a closer look.
In the past several years, Saudi Arabia has seemed open to membership in BRICS, which several countries have used to diversify their partnerships and craft multialignment strategies. As early as 2022, Salman expressed interest in joining the bloc. Counting Saudi Arabia as a member would be advantageous for BRICS, given the kingdom’s relevance as a major oil exporter and its influence in the Middle East.
Last year, during the BRICS Summit in South Africa, the bloc—formalized by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2009, before adding South Africa in 2010—invited six countries to join…
