Saudi Arabia Makes Friends With an Old Enemy - Bloomberg:
The border between Saudi Arabia and Iraq is a line in the sand that says much about the Middle East’s instability over the past three decades.
It was shut in 1990 after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait triggered the Gulf War. The Saudis proposed building a $7 billion barrier to seal it in 2006 as sectarian violence escalated. Then the rise of Islamic State prompted the kingdom to strengthen the 900-kilometer (560-mile) frontier.
With the extremist militants driven out of Iraq, Saudi Arabia is preparing to reopen the land crossing to trade this year because of the latest conflict that’s dominating the region: its proxy war with Iran. In a stark reversal of policy, the kingdom has identified Iraq as a timely ally in curbing the influence of its Shiite enemy, which on Wednesday threatened to abandon commitments made in its 2015 nuclear deal in response to American sanctions.
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