Strategic Pacts in a Shifting World Order: The Pakistan–Saudi Defense Pact 2025

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17311862

Abstract

This era marked by fluctuating geopolitical dynamics and growing security designs, the 2025 Pakistan Saudi Defense Pact represents a significant repositioning in regional and global strategic alliances. Israeli airstrikes on Doha and the subsequent exposure of vulnerabilities in Gulf air defense systems, this agreement highlights a growing desire among Middle Eastern powers to expand their security partnerships beyond traditional Western contexts, particularly the United States. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement in Riyadh by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, signals a deepening of military and political ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The pact encourages that any act of aggression against either nation shall be regarded as an act of aggression against both. By putting this agreement within larger geopolitical shifts and applying Neorealist and Regional Security Complex theories, the study assesses the motivations, possible risks, and implications for both bilateral ties and the larger strategic calculus in the Middle East and South Asia. Eventually, the paper contends that the pact is not just a defense agreement but an indication of a new regional security planning, less dependent on the West and more agreed to localized strategic requirements.

Keywords.   Strategic, Pact, Pakistan–Saudi, US, Middle East, Reliance