The Middle East Tries Its Hand at a NATO-Style Pact |
Foreign & Public Diplomacy
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at military commitments for Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey; a mass shooting in Thailand; and Colombia’s new right-wing president.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey inked a joint defense pact on Friday, concluding nearly a year of negotiations aimed at countering aggressive military posturing in the Middle East. Dubbed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, the alliance will act as a NATO-style mutual defense pact that consolidates the power and influence of three regional heavyweights.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at military commitments for Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey; a mass shooting in Thailand; and Colombia’s new right-wing president.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey inked a joint defense pact on Friday, concluding nearly a year of negotiations aimed at countering aggressive military posturing in the Middle East. Dubbed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, the alliance will act as a NATO-style mutual defense pact that consolidates the power and influence of three regional heavyweights.
According to a trilateral statement, “the agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.” Although Egypt participated in early talks, Cairo was not mentioned as a participant in Friday’s deal. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan all attended the signing in Mecca, Saudi Arabia—Islam’s holiest city.
Military cooperation among the three Sunni Muslim-majority nations is nothing new. For decades, Pakistan has provided Saudi forces with training and technical aid, Islamabad and Ankara have previously exchanged warships and training aircraft, and Riyadh has repeatedly purchased Turkish drones. Last month, Pakistan and Turkey also backed a Saudi-proposed maritime defense coalition that would help protect regional shipping routes and prevent global supply chains from being held hostage during war.
But just how far the joint defense pact will go remains unclear. The three nations do not have a history of eagerly providing military support; last September, Pakistan signed a mutual defense deal with Saudi........