India, Oct. 29 -- Saudi Arabia's strategic calculus rests on five interlocking pillars: A firm finger on the global energy supply balance, custodianship of Islam's holiest sites, sovereign capital deployment, multi-vector diplomacy, and enabling domestic reforms.

Energy as strategic leverage: Saudi Arabia functions as the central bank of oil, as it holds the largest-deployable spare oil capacity in the world - around three million barrels per day, nearly 60% of the slack of OPEC+, the oil-producing nations' alliance. By adjusting oil production unilaterally or through OPEC+, Riyadh sets the marginal cost of stability in global energy markets. Such conduct may not always sit well with major consumers including the US, but it protects Saud...