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Generational Dynamics World View
*** 1-Sep-16 World View -- Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China sign economic and military agreements

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
  • Fault lines: Saudi Arabia-China-Pakistan and India-U.S. continue to harden
  • Saudi Arabia and China sign economic and military agreements
  • Saudi Arabia and Pakistan discuss economic and military ties
  • U.S. and India sign a landmark defense agreement

****
**** Fault lines: Saudi Arabia-China-Pakistan and India-U.S. continue to harden
****


[Image: g160831b.gif]
Saudi Arabia and China sign economic and military agreements (al-Arabiya)

For ten years, I've been predicting, based on Generational Dynamics
analyses, that in the coming Clash of Civilizations world war, the
"allies" will be the United States, India, Russia and Iran, while the
"axis" will be China, Pakistan, and the Sunni Muslim countries. Ten
years ago, this alignment seemed almost preposterous, but in the last
few years, the trends have moved more and more rapidly in the
direction of that alignment. Major global events, including the Arab
Spring, the Syria war, the Yemen war, the US-Iran nuclear agreement,
and China's policy in the East and South China Seas, have all advanced
global geopolitics along this trend line.

These alignments are not shallow political policies for domestic
consumption. These alignments are deep in the DNA of the countries,
based on experiences of multiple generations over centuries.

Many people refuse to believe these alignments. They point to some
ephemeral agreement between Russia and China, or to a speech by Iran's
Supreme Leader, as "proof" that something else will happen, typically
that Russia, China and Iran will gang up on the United States, which
is absolute nonsense. Unfortunately, many government and commercial
policies are also made on erroneous assumptions, as I've pointed out
many times, and the generational theory analysis has always been
right.

In today's World View column, we're reporting on a series of
agreements made by China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India and the United
States that once again move those countries along the trend line to
the predicted alignment. For any readers who are in policy positions,
either governmental or commercial, you really ought to pay attention
what's going on in the world, which is what Generational Dynamics
explains.

****
**** Saudi Arabia and China sign economic and military agreements
****


In the last week, China, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia have signed new
economic and military agreements linking the three countries together.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman began
a three-day visit to Beijing, meeting with top Chinese leaders.
Fourteen memoranda of understanding are being signed by the two
countries. The agreements were related to security, national defense,
exchange of data information, energy, technology, services, cultural
exchange, and human resources development.

In the past, China has sold hundreds of millions of dollars of arms
sales to the Saudis, but that's by $33 billion in US arms sales in
2011 alone.

This is only the latest in a series of visits and agreements that only
began in 1990, when Saudi Arabia became the last Arab country to
officially recognize the People’s Republic of China. Saudi Arabia was
firmly anti-communist during the Cold War, and a close ally of the
United States. However, a series of decisions by the Obama
administration have caused the Saudis to reevaluate their relationship
with both the US and the Chinese. The major decisions were:
  • Obama's failure to support Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak during the
    Arab Spring;

  • Obama’s reversal of his “red line” decision to strike Bashar
    al-Assad, after the latter used Sarin gas on his own people, and
    continues to use chlorine gas on his own people with impunity;
    and

  • The lifting of sanctions on Iran in conjunction with the nuclear
    deal.

Over time, these decisions convinced the Saudis that they've become
overly dependent on the United States.

However, there are also issues about China that concern the Saudis:
  • China is improving ties with Iran as well as with Saudi
    Arabia.

  • China and Saudi Arabia do not see eye to eye on the war in Syria,
    with China largely siding with Russia and Bashar al-Assad.

  • Most important, China has shown neither the willingness nor the
    capability to take over the role the US has played in the region,
    though that could change if the next US president continues the policy
    adopted by President Obama of withdrawing from the Mideast.

On the other hand, China has become increasingly dependent on Middle
Eastern oil. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is an important link in
China's proposal for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century
Maritime Silk Road. So it's not surprising that security cooperation
between Saudi Arabia and China is improving. Saudi Gazette and Global Times (Beijing) and Al Arabiya

****
**** Saudi Arabia and Pakistan discuss economic and military ties
****


Saudi Arabia's Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman stopped briefly in
Pakistan on the way to his visit in China. It's not clear whether any
agreements were reached, but the subject of Yemen surely came up.

Relations between Saudi and Pakistan have been difficult for almost
two years, since the beginning of the Yemen war. Saudi Arabia has led
a multi-nation coalition to fight the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen,
but the Saudis are bogged down in a quagmire and may actually be
losing. Pakistan has refused from the beginning to join the
coalition, because it wants to continue having good relations with
Iran.

The statement issued after the meeting was non-committal.
"[Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz] Sharif and the Saudi defense
minister pledged to further enhance the bilateral ties between the two
brotherly countries and strengthen their cooperation in diverse
fields."

Nonetheless, Pakistan is closely tied to Saudi Arabia, and is even
heavily dependent on the Saudis. Possibly the greatest symbol of this
dependence is that already over 100,000 Pakistanis have traveled to
Saudi Arabia to perform the yearly pilgrimage of the Hajj, which will
be held in Mecca on September 9-14.

There are also 1.5-2 million Pakistanis living and working in Saudi
Arabia, sending remittances back to their families in Pakistan. And
Pakistan's need for Saudi energy is critical and longstanding. One
reason for China's close relationship with Pakistan is that it opens
up access to the Gulf and Saudi oil. However, Pakistan's relationship
with China goes well beyond that, because of their shared hatred of
India. As we've reported in the past, they describe their
relationship as "all-weather friends," "deeper than the deepest
ocean," "sweeter than honey" and "dearer than eyesight."

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has paid four visits to Saudi
Arabia since January this year. President Mamnoon Hussain also visited
Saudi Arabia last month.

Because of Pakistan's dependence on the Saudis, some analysts believe
that Pakistan is secretly aiding the Saudis in Yemen, and may even
have boots on the ground. According to one analyst, "Pakistan remains
solidly allied with Saudi Arabia, regardless of how intense the
outreach may be from Tehran. There are decades of close military
cooperation that are not about to undone." Deutsche Welle and Al Arabiya and The News (Pakistan)

****
**** U.S. and India sign a landmark defense agreement
****


During a visit to Washington by India's Defense Minister Manohar
Parrikar, the US and India signed a landmark defense agreement Tuesday
that will increase the military cooperation between the two countries.

India has resisted this agreement in the last decade for fear that the
agreement would aggravate China, and would lock India into a formal
and irreversible military alliance and push New Delhi into supporting
U.S. conflicts. However, in recent years India has become
increasingly nationalistic, leading to the election of a nationalistic
prime minister, Narendra Modi, making this defense agreement with the
US possible.

Still, the agreement signed on Tuesday is extremely limited, in order
allay Indian concerns. The agreement authorizes port visits, joint
exercises, joint training, humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief
efforts, and it streamlines relations between the two militaries.
However, the agreement "does not create any obligations on either
party to carry out any joint activity. It does not provide for the
establishment of any bases or basing arrangements," according to
India.

According to one military analyst:

> [indent]<QUOTE>"For the US, this is one part of the much larger pivot
> to Asia intended by President Obama to meet a rising China. The US
> Navy plans to deploy 60 percent of its surface ships in the
> Indo-Pacific in the near future. Instead of having to build
> facilities virtually from the ground up, as in Afghanistan and
> Iraq, the US has the benefit of simple arrangements for the
> tremendous Indian facilities.
>
> For both the US and India, [the agreement] responds to the
> powerful challenge of Xi Jinping's artificial islands - with air
> bases — in the South China Sea. It may also matter against the
> common enemy of the US and India in radical
> jihadists."<END QUOTE>
[/indent]

Earlier this year, U.S. Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. said at an event in
New Delhi that soon the naval vessels of the two nations steaming
together “will become a common and welcome sight throughout
Indo-Asia-Pacific waters.” The statement was aimed at countering
China's expanding military footprint in the region and echoed
Washington’s expectation that India will play the role of a net
security provider in Asia. Washington Post and Times of India


KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Saudi Arabia, China, Pakistan,
India, Iran, Syria, Yemen, South China Sea, Russia,
Mohammad bin Salman, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Bashar al-Assad,
Silk Road Economic Belt, 21st Century Maritime Silk Road,
Nawaz Sharif, Mamnoon Hussain, Manohar Parrikar, Narendra Modi,
Harry B. Harris Jr.

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John J. Xenakis
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RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 05-14-2016, 03:21 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 05-23-2016, 10:31 PM
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1-Sep-16 World View -- Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China sign economic and military agree - by John J. Xenakis - 08-31-2016, 09:42 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by SomeGuy - 01-18-2017, 09:23 PM
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