There is an American proverb saying “Good fences make good neighbours”. The same thing applies to borders between countries. Agreed demarcation should be celebrated rather than highlighting disputes. I say this at the time when the demarcation of the sea border between Saudi Arabia and Egypt is being defined. I think this is the last border being demarcated by the Kingdom with its neighbours in a region whose people are not familiar with borders.

Saudi Arabia began to demarcate its borders early being established since the time that the young King Abdul-Aziz entered his ancestors’ capital Riyadh in 1902. Since then the state border began to be demarcated sometimes through wars and sometimes by diplomacy and political channels. At that time Arabia and its people and sheikhs were not familiar with the “world of Westphalia”. Perhaps not one of them had heard this term that is still not familiar to us but only to British politicians who attempted to create our world against our will.

Westphalian peace was an outcome of radical change which took place in Europe in the mid-17th century when it applied the principles of recognised borders and national sovereignty and not intervention.

These concepts were not known in the Arabia at the beginning of 20th century but they were clear to the young King Abdulaziz although he did not learn them in any military college. King Abdulaziz has worked hard for border recognition not only with his neighbours and British colonialistsbut even with tribes subject to his rule.

The demarcation of the border with Iraq at that time led to the rebellion of some tribes who refused the idea of having borders in areas with no visible border lines where they had lived for thousands of years and moved freely during different seasons. How could someone come out of the blue and tell them that “north of such a line is your border”? It was hard for to them to digest.

The demarcation process of the growing kingdom was influenced by several factors. First of all history. The state of Abdulaziz was in the stretch of land covered by of two Saudi states one of extending from East to West. These stretches of land were grounds for Saudi negotiators to argue from but these could not determine success at all times especially when the power balance changed with the arrival of the British. King Abdulaziz used his good relations with the heads of tribes in the Gulf to reach an initial understanding that was later converted into international pacts. Sons of the King made a remarkable contribution to achieving these pacts one by one.

Right at the end of the 20th century in the year 2000 the last pact was inked with Kuwait to divide the Neutral area between the two countries. Before that in 1992 in Medina the border agreement with Qatar was signed following mediation made by the former Egyptian President- Hosni Mubarak.

The Jeddah agreement was another signed with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1974 and the Hafr Al Batin agreement was inked with Oman in 1991. The first border demarcation agreement was signed with Bahrain in 1958 in Riyadh.

Perhaps coincidently every pact signed by the Kingdom was strengthening the extended relations with the GCC states. The people of GCC followed in the footsteps of their forefathers in order to travel to cities in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries where they wanted to live and work according to a GCC agreement that ensured free movement and work between their states.

The former King Faisal said on the occasion of signing the border demarcation agreement with Sheikh Zayed bin Nahyan “the border of Abu Dhabi ends here in Jeddah”. Saudi took all agreements seriously by taking them to the Arab League and UN to make them binding for all. This spirit of settling differences helped later in solving many difficulties which arose after finding oil in many parts of the desert. This also helped in solving problems caused by self-interested oil companies.

The Kingdom also choose a suitable time to demarcate its borders especially with countries like Iraq and Yemen whose situations are not stable. For instance the border demarcation with Iraq was difficult and complicated due to the rivalry between the two counties which has existed from the Hashemite rule of Iraq until the Saddam era. The border issue was settled around the beginning of the war between Iraq and Iran and all documents were submitted to the UN.

It was not also easy to reach to an agreement with Yemen. Al Taif agreement which took place after the war of 1934 defined the border between the two countries. But their relations became complicated after the revolution of 1962 in Yemen and when the Communists took power in Southern Yemen. The former president Ali Abdullah Saleh used the border issue as a political instrument and for blackmailing but Saudi Arabia used its allies in Yemen to settle the issue and signed a binding agreement in 2003.

The Kingdom not only demarcated its border with its direct neighbours but also with its neighbours on the other side of the sea such as the agreement with Iran and with Sudan across the Red Sea. This helped Iran and Saudi to evade conflicts regarding oil and gas fields despite the current tension.

This shows Saudi’s keenness to settle its border disputes and the recent border agreement with Egypt came in this context. Saudi is keen on maintaining good relationships with all brothers without leaving border issues to become a reason for possible dispute. It is perfectly reasonable to do so but some have raised controversial questions saying “Why now with Egypt after leaving these two islands in the hands of Egypt for more than 75 years?”.

There are four reasons for this. The first is that it is the right time now because of the good relations between the two countries and the popularity of President Sisi makes him efficient in taking a decision. The second is that Riyadh has become the most influential power in the region and it is time for it to take on its full responsibilities in this sensitive region dominated by Israel. Thirdly Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s Bridge project is expected to change the geographic economic and political factors on the ground and this has required that the two islands be put under Saudi control.

The last reason is that good and clear borders creates and maintains good neighbours. Nobody knows what quantity of gas and oil may be found in the area south of the Gulf of Aqaba and this must not be left to be a source of dispute in the future.

No details are available about the border agreement with Egypt but the Saudis’ ways of signing agreements tell us that they always make their pacts detailed and never miss out anything or leave it ambiguous.

For example the recent border agreement with Jordan which had been originally signed by the British in 1965 is a good example where the Saudi Arabia waived dozen of kilometres of coastal border to Jordan and this made it possible for its only sea port to extend to the south of Aqaba. Jordan also waived a considerable area in Wadi Al Sarahana area. The agreement indicated that the two parties must share any potential wealth that could be discovered in the area in future. I think the agreement with Egypt also included a similar article.

Such careful agreements on borders create loving neighbours.