It remains to be seen whether Saudi Arabia will take a seat on the U.N. Security Council. (Creative Commons)

The kingdom cited “international double standards” as the reason for their move, saying that the Saudis were fed up with the U.N.’s actions, or inactions, on a number of Middle Eastern issues, according to Professor Russell Burgos of UCLA’s Global Studies and Middle East and North African Studies programs.

The action could “be taken as a principled stand in protest of policy towards Syria and, possibly, Iran,” he said.

But experts say the move appears to be nothing more than that: principle.

“On whether or not [Saudi Arabia] follows through on their threat or if it’s a bluff, I suspect it’s the latter,” said Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.

SEE ALSO: Saudi Arabia Rejects Council Seat

Burgos, in agreement, pointed out the nature of Saudi Arabia’s relationship with other countries in the region.

“I rather suspect that there's a good chance that, having laid down this marker, the Saudis will eventually take the seat, spinning it as… accepting their 'correct' responsibility for leadership in the Arab world,” Burgos said.

Patrick James, Dean's Professor of International Relations at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, speculates it could have been a bargaining move to make the U.S., one of whose biggest allies in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia, offer them something to come to the table.

“From their point of view, part of this is anti-American punishment, saying, ‘We’re not going to sit in your council and we’re certainly not going to play ball with you, because you’ve betrayed us,’” James explained.

That betrayal, he notes, includes making progress in talks with Iran - a notable enemy of Saudi Arabia, backing out of military action in Syria and taking too much of what he called a “pro-Israel” stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

With that in mind, the Saudis could now be looking for something from the U.S. to convince them to take the seat.

“Maybe what the Americans are supposed to do behind the scenes is say, ‘Alright, we’ve made you mad, so what kind of concessions would you like in order to be on the Security Council?’" said James. “[The U.S. might need] to say platitudinous, positive-sounding things to make [Saudi Arabia] look good.”

Haykel suggested the notion of the Saudis undertaking such a strategy made sense because of Saudi Arabia's disinterest in international policy, adding, however, that it was not a bold one. “The Saudis have traditionally shunned major positions in international organizations," Haykel said. "And it doesn’t reflect well for the King that they are playing a big boys game in an amateurish way,” Haykel said.

Reach Staff Reporter Ben Kraus here.