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Here’s how and why the US and Saudi Arabia got closer

11 months ago babelfish

Here's how and why the US and Saudi Arabia got closer

The objectives of the mission of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in Saudi Arabia and the comments of the analysts

In his second official visit in less than a month after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Saudi Arabia to Prince Mohammed bin Salman's court to present an olive branch to end to years of misunderstandings and disagreements with a partner who is still indispensable for the balance of a turbulent region such as the Middle East and for this very reason courted by rival powers such as China.

Blinken mission objectives.

Blinken landed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in the context of a mission studied by the Biden administration for the purpose of, Reuters writes, mending relations with a power with which there have been numerous points of friction in recent years.

As noted by The Hill , the visit comes, among other things, the day after Riyadh announced the cut of one million barrels to its daily oil production, to mark the distance with Washington's perspective, which instead pushes towards a completely different direction.

The objective of the Secretary of State's mission was, as stated in the statement by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, to discuss with Saudi leaders "strategic cooperation on regional and global issues and a range of bilateral issues, including economic and safety".

In the agenda of the visit, two other commitments were set for Blinken: participation in a ministerial summit with the partners of the Gulf Cooperation Council and participation in the summit of ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat Isis with the aim of in Miller's statement, "reaffirm our commitment to ensure the lasting defeat" of the jihadists of the Islamic State.

The meeting with MbS.

Shortly after his plane arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday afternoon, Blinken met with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in a meeting that lasted an hour and 40 hours, a US official toldCNN . minutes.

Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of Near East Affairs Barbara Leaf and Councilor Derek Chollet also took part in the conversation, writes Al Monitor . Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Saudi Ambassador to the US Princess Reema bint Bandar were present on the Saudi side.

As reported in another statement by Miller published after the meetings in Jeddah, Blinken and MbS spoke, in addition to economic cooperation especially in the energy and technological fields, of how to reach a political agreement to end the war in Yemen, of the conflict in Sudan, from where the Saudis helped evacuate hundreds of American citizens.

The two leaders also addressed the thorny issue of human rights, which sees the US in the difficult position of having to blame a precious ally for its many shortcomings

Improved but still tense relationships.

Interviewed by Al Jazeera , the researcher of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington Hussein Ibish expressed his belief that the relationship between Riyadh and Washington is "stronger than it was a year ago".

In fact, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since US President Joe Biden promised, during the 2020 election campaign, to treat Saudi Arabia as a "pariah" and since, as soon as he took office in the White House, he authorized disclosure of an intelligence report accusing MbS of the sensational murder of journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

Since the war broke out in Ukraine, Washington has found itself forced to take not one but two steps backwards to seek cooperation from Riyadh especially in the energy field at a time when the price per barrel was soaring. In this sense, the visit made by Biden himself during which he exchanged a playful "fist bump" with the prince is emblematic.

As Reuters notes, America has changed its attitude in recent times, appreciating the role played by Riyadh in the clashes in Sudan by hosting peace talks in Jeddah. He has also changed his opinion on the Saudi role in the war in Yemen, of which Riyadh has been a key player since 2015 except now to respect a truce that has held for months.

While the barometer of the relationship is looking high, there has also been some friction lately. There is not only the very recent cut in oil production, confirming a line of cooperation between Riyadh and Moscow which obviously cannot go down well with a superpower committed to containing Russia's global influence by all means.

Divergences and convergences.

There was the sudden normalization of relations with Iran with an agreement brokered by Beijing that surprised and annoyed the Biden administration. Not surprisingly, as Richard Goldberg, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, points out when speaking to Reuters , discouraging a closer Saudi-Chinese relationship was probably one of the primary objectives of Blinken's mission.

Another snub was to favor or acquiesce in the readmission of the Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad to the Arab League, with a rehabilitation that clashes with the official American policy of isolation.

But despite all this, America is willing to close not one but two eyes because it desperately needs Riyadh and rightly fears being overtaken by other powers such as China in a crucial quadrant such as that of the Middle East.

That's why, speaking to reporters on the eve of Blinken's departure, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed that, rather than on the partner's past actions, "we are focused on the future".

“This does not mean – Kirby emphasized – that we always agree with the Saudis on everything or that they agree with us on everything. We certainly have differences of opinion. (But) on the agenda of this bilateral relationship, a critical bilateral relationship in the Middle East, there are really a lot of points."

New Abraham deal in sight?

Although the topic is absent from the State Department's press release, Blinken will certainly have had the opportunity to discuss with MbS the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, in line with what happened with some Arab countries signatories of the so-called Abraham Accords .

But to achieve this fundamental goal will require intense diplomatic work and a lot of patience in the face of the behavior and tantrums of a partner who is no longer totally compliant.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/ecco-come-e-perche-usa-e-arabia-saudita-si-sono-riavvicinati/ on Thu, 08 Jun 2023 06:37:13 +0000.