Georgia–Saudi Relations: Bilateral Motivations and Regional Challenges


As a part of the series of reports on Saudi bilateral relations in the South Caucasus, following the latest two, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia (2019) and Armenia and Saudi Arabia (2020), this third and last report in the series focuses on those of Georgia and Saudi Arabia. First, it provides a brief historical account of Georgian politics. Secondly, it examines the geopolitics in the South Caucasus, including territorial conflicts inside Georgia with Russia while considering Caucasus neighbors, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and regional players such as Turkey on one hand and Iran on the other. Thirdly, the report moves to shed light on the Georgia’s international relations, mainly with the United States and the European Union, and its foreign policy strategies. Fourthly, focusing on Georgia–Saudi relations, the report provides a further analysis on the increased bilateral developments between the two countries while considering motivations and challenges. The report concludes that the relationship between Georgia and Saudi Arabia improved noticeably between 2015 and 2018 thanks to increased trade and tourism, as well as finding common ground with regards to the geopolitics of the South Caucasus and international politics. But the prospects for further development between the two countries seems to be limited because of potential and existing exclusive outcomes of current trade and tourism relationships, which are magnified by the impacts of COVID-19.