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Saudi Arabia Builds Its Defense Industrial Capability

(Arab News-Saudi Arabia) Jason Greenblatt - Saudi Arabia is working to build up its defense industrial capability in just a few years to meet half its own demand. These are among the ambitious goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, the modernization plan conceived of and championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. While Saudi Arabia - one of the world's top military spenders - has been able to purchase materiel from trade partners in the past, there is concern of how reliable allies will remain in supplying critical materiel. As recent whiplash in American Middle East policy has revealed, even staunch allies sometimes go wobbly due to domestic considerations that often change with the politics of the day. No country wants to rely on fickle external affairs if they can afford not to. In fact, the Kingdom's prestige will only grow if it drives the supply chain as a producer of important technologies, rather than participating in the marketplace as one of many buyers. Saudi Arabian Military Industries has drawn significant foreign investment and has begun partnering with leading American defense titans. The writer, a former U.S. Middle East envoy, is director of Arab-Israel diplomacy at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
2024-06-06 00:00:00
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