Many questions hang over the announcement by Saudi Arabia that it will lead a 34-nation coalition against Islamic State. This comes, after all, more than a year after the US rallied more than 60 countries in a “global” effort to “degrade and defeat” the jihadi insurgency. Although there is some overlap between these two coalitions, Saudi has stressed the “Islamic” character of the alliance it purports to lead – ranging from Mauritania and Chad to Pakistan and Malaysia – with a “joint operational centre” located in Riyadh.
How this new coalition will contribute to pushing Isis out of its heartland in Raqqa remains to be seen. What can it achieve militarily that the current US-led coalition cannot? Moreover, doubts about Saudi Arabia’s motives are legitimate: the kingdom may well be intent chiefly on salvaging its international image, severely dented by a dismal human rights record and decades of propounding a radical Sunni ideology that arguably reaches its twisted apogee in Isis itself. It may be no coincidence that the announcement came the day before Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who has been sentenced to prison and flogging for criticising religious figures, was awarded the European Sakharov prize for freedom of thought.
Some will worry that the fight against Isis is to be fronted by a nation that itself beheads at home, and exports dubious ideas abroad, even if Saudi Arabia does not kill and maim on European streets in the way that Isis does. Others will fear that this move only entrenches a sectarian proxy war fought by Saudis and Iranians on Syrian soil. And yet, for all the concerns, the pragmatic reality is that this is a significant development. In the eyes of predominantly Sunni countries, Saudi involvement may consolidate the legitimacy of the anti-Isis fight. It denies the jihadis’ claims to be the Sunnis’ sole defender.
The Saudi initiative does not answer the key question about what ground troops will be available. But the Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, has said “nothing is off the table”. If words are matched with deeds, the new Saudi-led alliance could lend some missing shape to a regionally rooted strategy. Defeating Isis cannot, after all, be a solely western effort. It must involve all states and societies – not least because its most numerous victims are Muslim.
