“We’re Becoming Unreliable”: Ex-U.S. Envoy Warns New Defense Pact Shows Allies Are Moving On.

When Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan quietly signed a mutual defense pact last week, it didn’t make huge waves in most newsrooms. But according to former U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill, it should have.

“This is one of the more important developments of this war,” Hill told CNN, referring to the nearly six months of conflict that have reshuffled alliances across the Middle East and beyond.

The agreement is stark in its simplicity: an attack on one is an attack on all. But what’s really striking, Hill says, is who signed it three countries that have long counted on American security backing.

“They all believe the U.S. is just not going to be there for them,” he said. “So they’re stepping up regional efforts on their own.”

Hill, who served as ambassador to Iraq, Serbia, and three other nations, sees this as more than a military maneuver. It’s a signal loud and clear that U.S. allies are losing confidence in Washington’s promises.

“You don’t see any American fingerprints on this,” he noted. “And that’s telling.”

His bluntest warning came at the end of the interview: “It’s one thing to be unpredictable. But I think we are becoming unreliable.”

For many in the region, that distinction is starting to feel like the same thing.