Link to the book chapter published: https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/the-greece-saudi-arabia-axis-in-the-eastern-mediterranean/422350
Strategy International highlights the publication of a new book chapter by our affiliate, Dr Minas Lyristis , titled “The Greece–Saudi Arabia Axis in the Eastern Mediterranean: Balancing Beyond the Gulf.” The chapter appears in Political, Economic, and International Relations in the Mediterranean, edited by Georgios Maris and published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing. It examines the growing partnership between Athens and Riyadh as an example of cross-regional balancing in an increasingly uncertain and multipolar strategic environment.
Drawing on defensive realism and Stephen Walt’s balance of threat framework, this chapter examines why two states from distinct regional security systems have developed increasingly close political, military, and geoeconomic ties. It argues that the Greece–Saudi Arabia relationship should not be viewed as an ideological bloc or a formal alliance. Instead, it is characterized as a flexible minilateral arrangement driven by converging threat perceptions, strategic vulnerabilities, and a mutual interest in expanding each nation’s strategic autonomy.
For Greece, the analysis links this outreach to the security pressures of the Eastern Mediterranean and to concerns about Turkish revisionism, which encouraged Athens to deepen ties with selected Gulf partners. For Saudi Arabia, a different set of pressures produced a parallel incentive to diversify: attacks on critical infrastructure, the costs associated with the Yemen war, and the wider requirements of Vision 2030 all reinforced the Kingdom’s search for partnerships beyond its traditional Gulf and Western frameworks. The result is a relationship that connects two strategic theatres that are often studied separately.
A central security dimension of the chapter is the expanding defence relationship between Greece and Saudi Arabia. Particular attention is given to the deployment of a Greek Patriot air-defence battery to the Kingdom, which illustrates how the partnership has moved beyond diplomatic signalling toward practical security cooperation. In the chapter’s interpretation, such initiatives demonstrate selective alignment: cooperation is deep enough to strengthen deterrence and resilience, but remains sufficiently flexible preserve the strategic autonomy of both sides.
The study also treats geoeconomics as an essential part of contemporary balancing. It highlights the East-to-Med Data Corridor as a prominent example of how digital connectivity can acquire strategic significance by linking the Gulf, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Europe. In this context, infrastructure is not simply an economic project. Connectivity, investment, and technological networks become instruments through which middle powers can reduce vulnerabilities, diversify external relationships, and increase their relevance within emerging regional architectures.
The broader contribution of the chapter is to show how middle powers combine deterrence, connectivity, and selective alignment under systemic uncertainty. Rather than relying exclusively on rigid alliance structures, Greece and Saudi Arabia are portrayed as cooperating in specific areas of overlapping interest while retaining distinct regional priorities. The case offers a wider lens for understanding how security cooperation is evolving across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf in a multipolar order.
The publication contributes to Strategy International’s research agenda on Middle Eastern security, Gulf politics, Eastern Mediterranean geopolitics, and the growing importance of flexible strategic partnerships and geoeconomic connectivity.
