U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted upon his arrival at King Khalid International Airport for a summit meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 20, 2016 © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
President Obama’s awkward recent visit to Saudi Arabia reopened debate over whether the Kingdom is a good U.S. ally or not. Certainly, there is no shortage of commentators arguing in favor of a stronger U.S.-Saudi partnership, calling for Obama to reassure the Saudis and arguing that the alliance is vital to U.S. national security.
Unfortunately, such arguments ignore the many problems in the relationship, which has become extremely fraught. Congressional criticism of Saudi Arabia, once almost unthinkable, occurs with increasing frequency. Recent moves by Congress to pass legislation that would permit relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the Saudi government have been met with fierce criticism from the Gulf, and an explicit threat by the Saudis to sell more than $750 million in U.S. assets if the bill passes. Nor is the White House immune to this trend. The Obama administration opposes the 9/11 bill, the president’s reservations about the U.S.-Saudi alliance are well-known, describing it in a recent foreign policy interview as “complicated.”
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WNU Editor: I would label Saudi Arabia as a distant ally .... their focus is on their own needs, and when their needs intersects with the West and/or when they need something .... they become a good ally .... especially when their national security is threatened. When they need nothing .... they could not care less on what the West is doing.
2 comments:
A distant ally? If they financed 911 doesn't that make them an enemy?
I would take Russia over Saudi Arabia if for no other reason than a pragmatic one. The Russian military is by far and away the world's most powerful. I've been patiently pointing this out since at least 1999. The performance of the Russian military in Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria appears to confirm this.
As such, improving our relations with them is paramount. What does seem clear is having them as an enemy is untenable. Might there be a way to turn them from enemy to friend or is the distrust simply to great?
At a minimum I'd suggest the following. 1.) Take Russia's postion on Ukraine. 2.) Announce in word and deed that the US opposes sanctions on Russia and will resist such sanctions with every ounce of it's strength. 3.) Oppose Ukrainian membership in the EU as long as this is Russia's position. 4.) Make it plain that the US will never support Ukrainian membership in NATO and should NATO admit Ukraine the US will withdraw immediately.
While I would not expect such changes in US postiins to alter Western European postions or actions, I think such changes in US positions should improve relations with Russia.
So what if we lose a "friendshio" with Western Europe? They're not our friends anyway. They are somewhere between a strategic competitor and an enemy, much closer to an enemy at this point. Since they don't have the military power to threaten us in the way Russia can nor are they a major supplier of anything we can't get elsewhere distancing ourselves from such people while trying to better our relations with Russia the world's most powerful batikn militarily has no downsides along with huge upside potential. As such, it seems a no brainer.
Additionally, we really need Russian assistance to deal with Iran. Perhaps with improved relations with Russia the Russuans might make it clear to the Iranians that death to America is whollly unacceptable and attempts to by Iran to garm America will be met with severe reprisals.
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