Regardless of who will occupy the Oval Office in January 2025, the issue of a US-Saudi mutual defence treaty will be a major item of US Middle East policy.
I have argued in several analyses how the American and Saudi sides could credibly enhance their defence ties at present and whenever they sign a mutual defence treaty. In this article, I would like to underscore the strategic significance of a relationship with NATO, not necessarily as an alternative to a defence pact with Washington but as a supplement to it.
Combat preparedness
To help Saudi Arabia become a more effective and dependable military partner, Washington would support Riyadh in forming meaningful and multi-domain linkages with NATO. Saudi Arabia does not have to be a NATO member (it can’t) or enjoy the status of a major non-NATO Ally (it can, but it’s not that critical or urgent) to reap the benefits of defence cooperation with the world’s most successful alliance in history.
Ukraine and Colombia are examples of countries in that category. They developed enduring bonds with NATO to improve various areas and functions in their defence establishments and armed forces. Saudi Arabia could learn from those valuable experiences.
For Saudi Arabia, the goal is to improve its institutional defence capacity as well as its military effectiveness, which it has been trying to do since it launched a defence transformation process seven years ago. To be sure, the two are interconnected, but the former is more long-term and entails changes that are far more complex and extensive than the latter.
However, national security cannot wait. Saudi Arabia lives in a volatile neighbourhood; thus, important as they are, it cannot afford to focus all its attention on structural reforms. Effective combat power in the service of deterrence and self-defence is an urgent priority.
Cooperative frameworks
This is where a defence relationship with NATO, in parallel with boosting ties with the United States, could be especially useful to speed up the process of Saudi military capability development.
A hugely beneficial step Saudi Arabia could take is to establish a suite of cooperative frameworks with the NATO Standardisation Office, or NSO. The NSO initiates, coordinates, supports, and administers NATO standardisation activities, be they civilian/institutional or military/operational. Since NATO’s inception in 1949, the goal of such organised standardisation has been to enhance the interoperability and operational effectiveness of the alliance’s militaries.
NATO standards are powerful assets because they can significantly enhance the combat power of any country adopting and implementing them. Indeed, that is why more than 70 countries—more than double the number of all NATO members—have recently shown interest in those standards.
If Saudi Arabia wishes to enhance its interoperability with the United States—NATO's beating heart and leader—NSO is an important vehicle. Interoperability is not a luxury or a slogan; it is, along with standardisation, the basis of NATO’s security and, whenever it happens, the core of any US-Saudi mutual defence treaty.
