Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 03:45pm on 06 Oct 2026,Tuesday International
Saudi Arabia’s failure to rein in Iran-backed Houthis has exposed weaknesses in its decades-long policy of outsourcing national security to the United States and Pakistan, West Asia expert Prof. Alvite Ningthoujam said. American fighter jets and personnel had provided a security guarantee, while Pakistan supported the kingdom through military deployments and agreements dating back to the 1960s. Despite formalising their alliance through a mutual defence agreement in 2025 and the Mecca Agreement this year, neither country came to Saudi Arabia’s aid during the Houthi offensive. Ningthoujam said Riyadh became complacent, believing it could “buy security,” while focusing more on internal dissent than external defence. He said the kingdom’s security policy collapsed. (PC: Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP)
