Saudi Arabia's security perception and foreign policy changes (2010-16)

Traditional Saudi foreign policy which bases its foreign policy on soft power elements at large, avoids military opposition with regional competitors, prioritizes mediation between conflicting parties, prefers to calm the source of threats when exposed to it, and relying on US security guarantees it has been observed that it has radically separated from this traditional foreign policy in the Arab Spring period. The radical change in the foreign policy of the regime in this process is related to the developments in the global, regional and national level. The decline in security guarantees provided by the US regime, the regime-threatening policies of regional actors and the relative increase in the regime's power have led the Ibn Saud regime to an assertive foreign policy during the Arab Spring. In this process, the regime has created a rationale for direct military intervention, escalating threats from regional rivals, and to a confrontational foreign policy that includes military appeal to expand regional interests. In order to be able to sustain its foreign policy based on direct military intervention developed in the new era, it has tried to lead military organizations among regional actors, diversify its security and increase its military/industrial capacity as much as possible. The Ibn Saud regime aimed, with this assertive foreign policy pursued during the Arab Spring, balancing regime-threatening states and non-state actors and expanding geopolitical influence by by taking advantage of the power vacancies to play a leadership role by expanding geopolitical influence in the Middle East region.