By Tian Wenlin
On August 8, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan stated that the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, recently signed by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan, aims to enhance regional autonomy, marking a vital step toward lasting regional stability. At present, the core clause of the agreement stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three nations shall be deemed as an attack against all. This signals that Middle Eastern nations are restructuring their security logic, thereby driving a profound overhaul of the region's security architecture.
Three underlying factors have enabled Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan to take the lead toward "collective self-defense." First, the three countries share a solid foundation for cooperation. As Sunni-majority nations, they hold aligned positions on numerous regional and international issues. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are long-standing partners. The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is essentially an expanded and upgraded version of the bilateral Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement concluded between the two countries last September. Although Saudi Arabia and Türkiye once rivaled for leadership in the Islamic world, their bilateral relations have eased since 2022, with pragmatic cooperation becoming the dominant theme. In parallel, Türkiye and Pakistan maintain close defense-industrial cooperation and routinely conduct joint military exercises.
Second, collective defense aligns with the interests and security demands of all three nations. Saudi Arabia has the most pressing need for this pact. In the US-Israel-Iran conflict, Saudi Arabia became a primary target of Iranian strikes due to US military bases on its territory, and several of energy facilities have been damaged. As the credibility of the US security umbrella wanes, Saudi Arabia urgently needs to diversify its options. Türkiye, despite being a NATO member, has long experienced friction with the US and Europe, and its EU accession process has been stalled for years. Consequently, Türkiye turns toward expanding its clout in the Islamic world. For Pakistan, the agreement allows it to step beyond its traditional South Asia-centric security framework, and establish a fresh security foothold and cooperative platform within the Islamic world. Moreover, Pakistan maintains smooth communication with both Iran and the US. By signing the agreement, Pakistan can better function as a diplomatic bridge and mediator in current regional dynamics, elevating its international influence.
Third, the three nations possess complementary capabilities and strengths. Saudi Arabia boasts substantial financial resources and serves as the influential core of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), enabling it to provide financial backing, diplomatic maneuvering space, and moral support to the trilateral alliance. Türkiye possesses NATO's second-largest conventional military force, a comprehensive defense-industrial system, R&D and manufacturing capabilities for main combat equipment, extensive cross-border combat experience, and robust regional power-projection capabilities. It can supply defense technology and operational expertise. Pakistan stands as the sole nuclear-armed state in the Islamic world, with a battle-tested military capable of providing nuclear deterrence. Joining forces, the three parties form a mutually reinforcing structure of "financial resources + defense technology + nuclear deterrence."
The signing of this pact carries profound significance, demonstrating a shift in the security strategies of Middle Eastern countries from dependence to autonomy. Over the past decades, Gulf states, represented by Saudi Arabia, have "outsourced" their security and defense to the US, seeking external protection by signing bilateral defense agreements and allowing military presence of US troops. However, the US-Israel-Iran conflict revealed that amid shortages of interceptor munitions, the US prioritizes its own and Israel's security and interests, leaving the security concerns of Gulf states like Saudi Arabia severely overlooked. These nations have come to realize that security guarantees from external powers are untrustworthy. Consequently, they cannot "put all their eggs in one basket" and must construct multi-layered security mechanisms, particularly through intra-regional mutual assistance, to hedge against the uncertainties of external pledges.
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is a multilateral security pact independently initiated, negotiated, and signed by major countries of the Islamic world. It marks that Middle Eastern countries have begun to actively shape their regional security environment, accelerating the evolution of their security strategies from dependence to autonomy. Furthermore, the agreement reflects a deep-seated transformation in Middle Eastern security concepts, shifting from zero-sum games toward common security. Nations in the region are beginning to break free from the enemy-or-friend frameworks dictated by external powers, and seeking to take the initiative in their own security destinies.
(The author is Director of the Institute of Middle East Studies, School of Global and Area Studies, Renmin University of China)
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.