The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement
Context:
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement is a trilateral defense pact recently signed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, establishing a collective defense framework under which an armed attack on any one member is to be treated as an attack on all three.
Members of the media may directly contact the following uOttawa academic experts:
Peter Jones (English only)
Full Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Professor Jones specializes in conflict resolution and track-two diplomacy and leads various dialogues in South Asia and the Middle East.
"The new defence arrangement is primarily symbolic at this point. It primarily shows that these three countries are increasingly questioning their security relationship with the United States."
Errol Mendes (English only)
Full Professor, Common Law section, Faculty of Law.
Professor Mendes is an expert in public international law, global governance and humanitarian law.
"This Islamic-based form of NATO is a rebuke to the U.S., which has worsened peace and security in the Middle East by ignoring its own vital interests and tied its goals to Israel. This new NATO-like pact is the result of another historic overreach and narcissistic bungling by the U.S. when it comes to this area of the world."