Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah receives U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the king's Riyadh Palace April 6, 2011 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Arab uprisings of 2011 are having a profound effect beyond the borders of the individual Arab states. For the regional powerhouses, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the events are shaking their alliances and altering the course of their foreign and domestic policies.
Saudi Arabia, a long-standing Arab leader, has the most to lose with its influence weakened already in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza, and its interests threatened in Bahrain and Yemen.
Persian Iran, starting with little, has the most to gain in the Arab world. It has made inroads in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza, and has increasing influence in Bahrain. But its interests also are vulnerable in Syria and, consequently, in Lebanon and Gaza.
Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was believed to be as securely ensconced as the pyramids. When he was ousted from office, Saudi Arabia lost its greatest ally in the campaign to keep an ambitious Iran in check, and Iran gained an opening into a country with which it had not had diplomatic relations in three decades.
When popular protests unexpectedly challenged even the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, the linchpin to Iran's regional sphere of influence was suddenly threatened, and a glimmer of hope appeared for greater Saudi influence in Damascus.
For these two Gulf giants, the popular Arab protests have become a battleground with both countries scrambling for position. Each is trying to shore up its alliances and is hoping to exploit any openings that come about from vacuums of power.]/p>
The United States, Saudi Arabia's greatest protector (and the Iranian regime's greatest critic), is in a bind.
Strategically, Washington is committed a) to the protection of Saudi Arabia (as well as its Gulf allies) and their oil, and b) to the secure existence of Israel.
To those ends, the U.S. seeks to stop Iran's drive for nuclear weapons and regional hegemony, and to promote political reform that would empower people in the region (at least in certain countries in which it finds it necessary).
However, in promoting political reform, Saudi Arabia and Israel worry, the United States may diminish Saudi (and Israeli) allies and strengthen the very Iranian regime it seeks to stop – unless, of course, the U.S. administration also succeeds in promoting political reform in Iran.