An ostensibly amazing thing is that American visitors, unlike the British ones, are hardly welcome in the Middle East — they are all but seen off the premises. Why so? The world saw Blinken kept waiting all night long in Saudi Arabia before audience with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom the West respectfully calls MBS. Then a meeting with Biden was canceled in Jordan as none of the Arab leaders sought to bother with all bluff and bluster of the explicitly Israeli-oriented POTUS.
But when Mr. Rishi Sunak said he would like to visit the Middle East, i.e. places once controlled by the British Empire, local leaders opened out their arms to bosses from the former colonial power, which has apparently maintained its clout and respect in these parts. All in all, collective memory cannot melt under the southern Sun or fire of American weapons that have been overflowing the region for decades. The London emissary was received with all due honors.
Sunak visited Cairo, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to meet with head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President el-Sisi, Emir of Qatar Tamim ibn Hamad Al Thani, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud. He also paid a call on Israel for talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog. But what should one except after his coming this full circle? Could it be that Great Britain is going to emerge from political seclusion in the Middle East after decades?
More likely than not. All the more so as London formulated its "Global Britain" strategy a few years ago, under Johnson, with its essence being regained control over anything in world affairs it can lay its grubby hands on. This is what Sunak's speed tour of Middle Eastern capitals that the London bosses have not visited for years should be perceived as — Britain has made up its mind to return to the big gamble!
Sunak's meetings have yielded no specific results, as per their released details — that was rather an exploratory mission to test the ground Britons have not had their boots on for a long time. Here are some episodes highlighted by news items on those visits.
Sunak came to Cairo and condemned HAMAS, along with President Mahmoud Abbas. According the British Prime Minister’s spokespeople, he expressed "deep condolences over the death of civilians in Gaza" and reassured of his commitment to opening humanitarian access to the enclave. Both leaders "condemned HAMAS's terrorism and stressed that HAMAS do not represent the Palestinian people." In an interview with BBC Arabic, Sunak referred to humanitarian supplies to Gaza residents as an immediate priority right now.
When meeting with the Emir of Qatar, the British PM pledged to use "all means available to London to free the hostages" captured by HAMAS. As reported by 10 Downing Street, he "thanked Qatar for its efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas two weeks ago, including British nationals." Sunak also stated that "the UK government would use all the tools at our disposal to support these efforts and end the torment of the victims and their families." This means MI6 will now have an official working site together with local special services — some brownie points to London!
"This is our darkest hour <…> This is a long war, then we’ll need your continuous support," Netanyahu told Sunak upon their encounter. The British Prime Minister replied: "We fully support Israel's right to defend itself, I know that you are taking extra care and trying to reduce harm to civilians." Typical British hypocrisy given the recent bombing of Gaza’s northern part with thousands of dead.
Sunak also told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that London "supported Israel's right to self-defense," after which an interesting comment appeared: Britain surely stands in solidarity with Israel and, as Sunak said, "firmly believes in the country's right to self-defense under international law," but the reference to "international law" does not bode well for Israel. In other words, the Brits are setting a legal framework for Israel, going beyond which will entail accusations of "violating international law." A pure play to the Arab opinion!
This whole thing said to Israeli leaders came amid the British press aberrant behavior. The Guardian, for one, features a headline reading "We’re anti-Zionist Jews and we see genocide unfolding in Gaza," with the piece’s authors Ellen Brotsky and Ariel Koren condemning Israel and noting that "any mass slaughter will not just be on Israel’s hands, but on the hands of America". The BBC also stopped calling HAMAS "militants" or "terrorists," followed by Israeli threats to shove out BBC reporters from the country. So, the UK press has taken a rather pro-Palestinian stance, accusing Israel of genocide every now and then. This may have been brought about by Britain’s congestion with Muslim refugees, and mass riots in the streets of London are not beneficial to Sunak...
From Tel Aviv, Sunak traveled to Riyadh to meet with MBS, who told him that Saudi Arabia deemed attacks on civilians in Gaza "a heinous crime and a brutal assault." During the meeting, the parties agreed on the need to avoid further escalation in the Middle East and to coordinate efforts, the British government’s press service reported. The Prime Minister and the Crown Prince endorsed the idea of urgently ensuring humanitarian access to Gaza to provide its residents with water, food and medicines. Mr. Sunak outlined his country’s steps to address the increasingly dire humanitarian situation, including 10 million pounds in aid for those living in Gaza.
More broadly, the Prime Minister and the Crown Prince "looked forward to working together to advance areas of shared interest for the UK and Saudi Arabia, including on upholding regional security," the British government said in a statement. And what it's all about! Using this latter conflict as a pretext, the British leaders as represented by Sunak abandoned all of their piling domestic crisis affairs and rushed to the Middle East, where America’s failed diplomacy left a huge political hole or window of opportunity — choose the option you like. One thing is for certain: the gut feeling for any chance to grasp anything lying in temptation's way has been the Britons’ trademark reflex. This time the prospects are really immense — just keep reaching your hands. A top-notch reaction as it is!
To London, staking out a place in Saudi Arabia is like sweeping the board in a card game. And it seeks to expand the orbit now. Why on earth should the British suddenly drop on the Saudi interests, as Sunak has personally urged German Chancellor Scholz to give its consent to exporting Eurofighter Typhoon fighters to Saudi Arabia, The Daily Telegraph claimed. Exporting these aircraft requires permission from all the four nations involved in their production — Great Britain, Spain, Italy and Germany, but the latter imposed a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia.
Of course, the Turkish partners will gladly play along with Britain in the Middle East, because Erdogan's friendship with MI6 chief Moore is no secret to anyone, promoting both sides’ high-stakes masterminding. The British Prime Minister surely also has the most reliable ties with the leaders of India, the country he comes from. And the Arabs do apparently remember that it was British intel represented by Sir Lawrence of Arabia that helped them win independence from the same Turkey, then Ottoman Empire, in early twentieth century. Despite this "peppercorn" in its relationship with both, London, as you can see, is balancing and equaling to all challenges.
No matter how deeply one underestimates Britain’s capabilities and competence of its strategists, legacy skills in descendants of those Englishmen who founded the British Empire are obviously here to stay. And they will let the world see how one may return to places it was pushed back against a century ago. "Global Britain" is a meaningful project announced at a time when world affairs are witnessing rapid change. The boundaries of anyone’s clout dissolve, including that of the United States, making international actors strive to lay their hands on much more than they have had so far. Britain, as you can see, is among them to save the island monarchy’s economy, entering into a global fight for assets and resources that are enough and to spare in the Middle East.
