Introduction

There finally seems to be some movement towards a peace settlement in the Yemen civil war, which has been raging for nine years now. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been fighting the Saudi coalition forces, are now in talks with Saudi Arabia with Omani mediation. Although the negotiations are expected to take time before they yield results, there is some optimism in the air as the talks are happening in the aftermath of a China-mediated agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume diplomatic relations.

While war fatigue could be one trigger behind the talks, another seems to be a clear shift in Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy engineered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). In recent months, in stark contrast to the aggressive foreign policy that he started out with --- starting the war in Yemen, the failed blockade of Qatar, the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, the house arrest of Lebanon’s Prime Minister and so on – MBS seems to have made a conscious switch to a more tactical foreign policy centred on building relations with all the key powers in the region.

So, what are the contours of Saudi Arabia’s new foreign policy? What prompted it? And does it signal a more peaceful West Asia in the long run?

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