there's an unusual narrative that is worth at least understanding. back in wwI, there was an agreement between the british and the saudis that the arabs would get a centralized state in return for their aid against the ottomons. instead, they got a lot of little countries and a century of pointless conflict.
there currently seems to be an alliance between the white house, the saudis and what is left of al qaeda. the re-establishment of a caliphate was one of the demands of al qaeda, and while you'd have a hard time getting american or saudi diplomats to use that language, it is clear that they want hegemony over the arab world.
so, this all ties together through that hundred year old promise, in conjunction with the world being broken into trade blocs.
the eu, the sco, mercosur, the au, nafta. these are the types of organizations that really define sovereignty in the 21st century.
there seems to be a view that an arab league type bloc is the right way to set up the area, just as was promised in the great war. for whatever reason, the saudis are acknowledged as the hegemon in this bloc.