Egyptian-American political analyst Magdi Khalil said in a March 28, 2023 show on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) that the Arab countries should not join an alliance with Russia and China. He said that this would be a "losing bet" similar to the Arabs' failed alliance with the Soviet Union, and he said that it is a delusion to think the Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries are on the way to becoming superpowers. Rather, he advised the Arab countries to stick to alliances with the West, which has caused them to advance and flourish and built the Gulf States.
Magdi Khalil: "[My colleague] said that we [Arabs] have fought Israel with Soviet weapons. Well, you failed. Or were you successful with those Soviet weapons? How can you compare yourself to Israel? Your entire life has been nothing but failure. The Pan-Arabists and the Socialists - nothing but failure."
Interviewer: "How can you forget about the [1973] 'October War of Liberation?'"
Khalil: "They have failed to achieve progress, democracy, and respect for human rights. They have failed to uphold their people's dignity. They failed in everything when they chose to rely on the Soviet Union, and now they are repeating this by choosing to rely on China and Russia, only to achieve more decades of failure."
[...]
Interviewer: "In one sentence, what do you say to the Arabs who are plunging headfirst towards Russia, China, and these new alliances?"
Khalil: "You are placing a losing bet. People who tell you that you are going to be a superpower delude you. Hypocrites are talking to you about Saudi Arabia and other [Arab] countries as superpowers and all that... This is delusion. In a few decades, when a new world order is formed, history will leave you behind, because the only thing you have - oil - will have become an obsolete product. So do not place your bets [on Russia and China].
"Stay with those who helped you make progress and flourish, and built your countries in the Gulf. All your countries in the Gulf are Western products, whereas all the Middle East countries built by the Soviets and Eastern bloc are a wreck."