Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia are the diplomatic and trade relations between Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world. The foreign policy of Saudi Arabia is focused on co-operation with the oil-exporting Gulf States, the unity of the Arab World, Islamic solidarity, and support for the United Nations. In practice, the main concerns in recent years have been relations with the US, the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iraq, the perceived threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the effect of oil pricing. Saudi Arabia contributes large amounts of development aid to Muslim countries. From 1986 to 2006, the country donated £49 billion in aid.
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and real-estate tycoon and future President Donald Trump in 1985
King Ibn Saud converses with President Franklin D. Roosevelt on board the USS Quincy, after the Yalta Conference in 1945.
A pro-Palestine demonstration in front of the Saudi Arabia Consulate General building in West Los Angeles
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, 2012
Egypt–Saudi Arabia relations
Historically, relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could be considered as extending several centuries back to the relations between earlier regimes in Egypt – the highly autonomous Egypt Eyalet in the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt – and the earlier manifestations of Saudi/Wahhabi power in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are both highly influential countries in the Arab world. Egypt is the most populous Arab country, and Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20. According to a 2013 Pew global opinion poll, 78% of Egyptians express a favourable view of Saudi Arabia, and 19% express an unfavourable view.
King Farouk and Prince Faisal at Egyptian Tekkiyah at Medina, 1945.
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, King Faisal, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat meeting in 1970.
President Gamal Abdel Nasser and King Faisal in Cairo, 1969
A protester outside the Saudi Embassy in Cairo holds up a flag saying "Down with Military Rule"