Rather, it marks a departure from a key feature of Persian Gulf security for decades: United States leadership. Ever since, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States have hosted US ground, naval and air force personnel on their territory. Saudi Arabia now finds itself in a vastly different geopolitical landscape: China and Russia are allied with Tehran – and the US is, so far, unable to defeat Iran. Like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan had already turned to China to increase its geopolitical value. The alliance with Saudi Arabia puts Ankara at the center of regional geopolitics; the Islamic reference adopted by the Mecca trio also provides an aura of historical redemption.