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Saudi Arabia and Iraq: the Border As a Catalyst for Cooperation Rabi II, 1441 - December 2019

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Saudi Arabia and Iraq: the Border As a Catalyst for Cooperation Rabi II, 1441 - December 2019 51 Dirasat Saudi Arabia and Iraq: The Border as a Catalyst for Cooperation Rabi II, 1441 - December 2019 Javier Bordón Saudi Arabia and Iraq: The Border as a Catalyst for Cooperation Javier Bordón 4 Dirasat No. 50 Rabi I, 1441 - November 2019 © King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, 2019 King Fahd National Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rakhmat, Muhammad Zulfikar Chinas Efforts to Legitimize the Implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Gulf. / Rakhmat, Muhammed Zulfikar. - Riyadh, 2019 44 p ; 23 x 16.5 cm ISBN: 978-603-8268-27-8 1- China - Foreign economic relations - Middle East I-Title 337.5056 dc 1441/1423 L.D. no. 1441/1423 ISBN: 978-603-8268-27-8 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my family for being an unrelenting source of love and support and joining me at every path I take. And I would like to thank the team at KFCRIS for welcoming me into their Center and sharing their invaluable expertise. Table of Contents Abstract 6 Introduction 7 Formation of the International Border: A Dialogue between Nascent Polities and Shelving Disputes 9 Iraq in Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy (and viceversa) 12 Idiosyncrasy of the Border 18 Border Security 20 Trade and Mobility-Related Cooperation: Infrastructure and Customs 23 Nonenergy Trade 25 Transnational Oil Infrastructure 30 Electricity Grid Bonding 33 Hajj and Arba’aeen 36 Conclusion 39 References 40 5 6 Dirasat No. 51 Rabi II, 1441 - December 2019 Abstract Saudi-Iraqi relations are imbued with a layered complexity featuring historical glimpses of pragmatic swapping and mostly overarched by confrontation, isolation, and sometimes, even mutual contempt. From 2014 onward, however, an emerging set of drivers at the international, domestic and decision-making levels, exacerbated by the factor of geographical proximity, has combined to sketch a new scenario, which frames the strategic steps in a nonlinear process of bilateral rapprochement. Among the various aspects in which deeper cooperative schemes are gaining momentum -some retrieved from past agendas and others involving outright innovation-, the present research deals with the singularity that derives from sharing a land border. Between political entities, the border receives the influx of mixed-motive games, which determines the transnational processes thereof. It is influenced by its comprising states the same way it exerts influence on them. After roughly thirty years of closure, the author will argue the Saudi-Iraqi border is undergoing a nondefinitive process of increasing permeability which, in turn, expands the prospects for cooperation. The first section addresses the historical formation of the common border. The following section analyzes the changing nature of the relationship in recent years consistent with shifting attitudes in foreign-policy strategy. The third section, after a brief assessment of the unique character of the Saudi-Iraqi border, will unfold in several areas of cooperation in order to assess the current progress, challenges and opportunities for their realization and intensification: border security, cross-border infrastructure and regulation, trade, oil transport, electricity interconnection and religious pilgrimage. Introduction In accounts on Iraq, ‘sound the alarm’ and ‘foresee a new war episode’ are recurrent mottos as neglected issues or unintended miscalculations risk to spark both. The sequence of events unleashed in summer 2019 immediately raised concerns in that direction, as the US pressure on Iran hardened, freedom of navigation and national critical infrastructure became subject to unprecedented threats; airstrikes, sanctions and cyberattacks targeted proxies and their positions; Abdul Mahdi’s government crumbled while struggling for security governance; and broad areas experiencing mounting popular unrest. A layered complexity colors Saudi-Iraqi relations, geographically exacerbated by the fact that “our neighbors are permanently situated by our side, we have to deal with them as they have to deal with us.”(1) For decades, the Saudi engagement vis-à-vis Iraq has been dominated by confrontation, isolation and sometimes even mutual contempt, rendering cooperative relations not only unattainable but also without the prospect of yielding any benefits. This deadlock underwent a dramatic turn during the past five years, as both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Iraq began to identify uncultivated areas in which confidence and interdependence could be mutually reinforced; in a process facilitated by changes in the domestic and international realms and new readings of the different scenarios for foreign-policy practice. A key element receiving growing attention is the common 830-km international border. Between political entities, the border receives the influx of mixed-motive games(2) ranging from cooperation to competition, hence defining its evolving nature and management. Concurrently, the border imposes determinants to authority and the transnational processes thereof, as variously characterized by security, economic, legal, social, identity and other (1) Turki Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, “Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy”. Middle East Policy 20, no.4, Winter 2013: 37. (2) Beth Simmons, “Rules over Real Estate: Trade, Territorial Conflict and International Borders as Institution”, Journal of Conflict Resolution 49, no.º6, December 2005: 827. 7 8 Dirasat No. 51 Rabi II, 1441 - December 2019 concerns. To put it simply, borders are both “an input (influencing aftermath processes) and an output (influenced by processes)”(3). The Kingdom decided to close its northern border in retaliation for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and has maintained that position until recently. Under various circumstances, however, borders may be best viewed through Keohane’s instrumentalist definition: “international institutions that produce joint gains”(4). After several delays, the announcement of the first step toward the normalization of cross-border flows on October 15 raises questions about the implications of the role of the border in the bilateral relationship and how changes may impact it, what areas of cooperation may materialize, how successful these endeavors might be and what obstacles they will encounter. In noting that the insights gained from this case study might not be directly comparable to studies of other international borders, the author conducted the research by posing an argument inspired by the literature,(5) but with a slight adjustment: A territorial boundary tends to be more permeable (while in compliance with the law) when it is taken for granted, implying the withdrawal of perceived interstate threats to authority. Primary evidence from international organizations, state institutions and experts on the field served as data for the formulation of statistical insights and the enrichment of the analysis through comments extracted from semi- structured interviews. Academic works, together with legislation, information from media platforms, reports by public agencies and records located in library archives made up the secondary sources. The analysis relied on data collected up until September 2019. It is important to note than the popular mobilization in Iraq starting in October may lead to a new political scenario, which could (3) David Newman, “Contemporary Research Agendas,” in The Routledge Research Companion to Border Studies, ed. Doris Wastl-Walter (London: Routledge, 2012), 35. (4) Quoted in Simmons, “Rules,” 827. (5) Simmons, “Rules,” 843. affect the foreign-policy analysis though not necessarily the proposed areas of cooperation. The first section skims through the historical formation of the common border. The following section analyzes the changing nature of the relation consistent with shifting attitudes in foreign policy strategy. The third section, after a brief assessment of the border’s idiosyncrasy, will unfold in several areas of cooperation in order to assess the current progress, challenges and opportunities for their realization and improvement: border security, cross- border infrastructure and regulation, trade, transnational oil transport, electricity interconnection and religious pilgrimage. Formation of the International Border: A Dialogue between Nascent Polities and Shelving Disputes In Jones’s systemic characterization on how international borders are formed, he distinguishes four technical, yet indissociably political, phases: allocation, delimitation, demarcation and maintenance(6). This model describes a sequential order much more entangled in practice. In the case of the Saudi- Iraqi border, the first two steps were only finalized forty years ago (see Chart 1). Chart 1. Bilateral Treaties and Key Events Concerning the Border 1990: Border 1975: closure and 1915: Nejd-UK 1927: Administrative submission Friendship Treaty Treaty of split of Neutral of the Treaty (Treaty of Qatif) Jeddah Zone to UN 1922: Treaty of 1930: Saudi- 1981: 2015: Muhammarah Iraqi Peace International Talks and Protocol of Treaty Frontier for Uqayr Treaty opening the border (6) Donaldson and Williams, “Delimitation and Demarcation: Analysing the Legacy of Stephen B. Jones’s Boundary-Making”, Geopolitics, no.º13 (2008): 686. 9 10 Dirasat No. 51 Rabi II, 1441 - December 2019 Map 1. Saudi-Iraqi Neutral Zone Source: CIA, 1986 Source: Author. The proclamation of the Sultanate of Nejd coincided with the establishment of the Kingdom of Iraq. The incorporation of Hejaz into King Abdul ‘Aziz al-Saud’s campaign in 1925 added fuel to a rivalry on national,
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