When foreign minister Saud al-Faisal said Saudi Arabia would attend last week’s Middle East peace conference at Annapolis, after months of hesitation, the news was greeted with relief in western capitals. Having raised the kingdom’s profile in regional politics over the past year, Riyadh’s absence at Annapolis would have been seen as a blow to the US effort.
The doubts over Annapolis underline the broader dilemma facing Saudi Arabia these days – how to be pursue a more engaged foreign policy while satisfying the kingdom’s traditional aversion to risk.
