Gunter Mulack

By : Gunter Mulack

:: Last week’s visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Saudi Arabia, and her talks with King Salman and the crown prince as well as several ministers, illustrated new avenues of cooperation between the two nations other than just trade.

Of course, enhanced trade and investment cooperation was discussed during the visit, with Siemens set to establish new training facilities in Saudi Arabia. The talks between the German chancellor and Saudi Arabian women executives were fruitful for both sides and showed the progress and achievements as well as areas that need further improvement.

This visit of the most powerful woman politician in Europe, partly aimed at preparing for the forthcoming G-20 summit in Hamburg, focused on security and joint efforts to end the wars in the region. The meetings dealt with the threats to stability and peace, with Germany offering training facilities for Saudi Arabian soldiers in Germany.

Chancellor Merkel pleaded for more substantial efforts to establish peace in the region.

There was plenty to talk about during German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit, but the wider backdrop of regional stability is, as always, a key concern.

Gunter Mulack

Foreign military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have not achieved the goal to bring peace and stability to those countries. The same is true for Yemen. Despite more than two years of military intervention to support the legitimate government and its control of the country it has not to date been possible to achieve this.

A dreadful humanitarian disaster is developing in Yemen, the poorest of all Arab countries, and the suffering is enormous. Millions of children are starving. Yemen has developed into a proxy war between Iran, which supports the Houthis, and Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Germany has offered its help to find a diplomatic solution to this crisis on the basis of its neutral position and historically good relations with Yemen. The diplomatic engagement of the UN should be strengthened. One concrete step should be to achieve a cessation of hostilities and give the UN as well as humanitarian organizations a chance to channel their aid into Yemen. Hodeidah port should, under the supervision of the UN, be established as a neutral port to be used for bringing in the necessary aid instead of becoming a new battleground.

To achieve peace in Syria is far more complicated — with Iran and Russia firmly supporting the Assad regime.

The meetings of Chancellor Merkel with the leadership of Saudi Arabia showed not only the German concern, but also its appreciation about the leading role of Saudi Arabia and its efforts to convert an economy based on oil into one that is knowledge-based.

In order to achieve this, more cooperation in the field of education, training and culture will help and the whole population, including women, should be participating. Success, however, will ultimately only be possible when peace and stability can be re-established in the region.

Dr. Gunter Mulack is a retired German ambassador and at present the executive director of the German Orient Institute in Berlin. He was ambassador to Bahrain, Kuwait and Syria and consul general in Casablanca, along with other postings.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.

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