President Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia later this week comes at a crucial time in U.S.-Saudi relations and in the context of regional and geopolitical developments.
Below are five assessments of the significance of this upcoming meeting between the second-term President and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and other Saudi officials.
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“Never since that landmark meeting between the late King Abdul Aziz and President Franklin D. Roosevelt onboard the U.S. Navy Cruiser Quincy in 1945 did the relation between the two allies raise so many questions…. The Saudis are concerned with the way the Obama administration has handled/continues to handle a number of regional issues; namely, Iran, Syria and Egypt… [President Obama] needs to remember that it was Saudi security forces that were fighting side-by-side with their American counterparts in the global war against terrorism. He also needs to remember that it was Iran that sought to destabilize Iraq following the toppling of Saddam Hussain and that it is Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that are fighting side-by-side with the murderous Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.”
-Faisal J. Abbas, Editor in-Chief, Al Arabiya English
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“…Arab concerns have been heard and that is why President Obama is traveling to meet King Abdullah. Our two nations have been partners for too long, have too many shared interests, and face too many common challenges…. And the best way to move forward addressing them is through dialogue and co-ordinated action. It is my hope that the meetings between the President and King Abdullah will only be the beginning of a process that will lead to a more formalised US-Arab strategic dialogue.”
-Dr. James Zogby, Founder and President of the Arab American Institute (AAI), in Gulf Daily News
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“President Obama needs to persuade King Abdullah that in the event of a deal that allays regional and world concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, this would be in Saudi interests too. Yet he also needs to insist the Saudis rein in their clerical establishment, stop tolerating private support for jihadi extremists and cease exporting Wahhabi bigotry to Muslim territory from the Balkans to Indonesia. It is time for plain speaking between these old allies – and no other country can provide the security umbrella for the kingdom that the US does.”
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“The United States does not need to rebuild its alliance with Saudi Arabia as much as build a new form of alliance based on the new realities of the Middle East. Both sides need to recognize these changing realities, and the uncertainties involved, and develop a new level of cooperation. At the same time, they need to be more tolerant of the other side’s positions.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have many common interests, but often have different values and priorities. This requires the leaders of both countries to face facts in private that they may not be able to face in public, and to build a more functional partnership based on the new realities that shape the region.”
-Anthony Cordesman, CSIS (published in SUSRIS.com)
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“While the focus of the President’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia will be to demonstrate that differences over Syria and Iran have been narrowed and that the path forward is clear, it would be useful for the President to reflect a bit with King Abdullah on the significant change that the King has brought to Saudi Arabia during his nine-year tenure. Undoubtedly, Saudi Arabia has a long path ahead, but most Saudi observers would credit the King with pushing the limits in creating modern institutions—some named after him such as the new economic city near Jeddah, the university of science and technology, and his massive foreign scholarship program. He has steadily improved the opportunities for women in Saudi society, recognized the need to discard the worst practices of both religious and civil bureaucracies, and tried to answer Saudi extremism with new and different opportunities for young people. We should not hesitate to offer critiques of Saudi domestic or international policies with which we disagree, but US interests would be well-served by recognizing accomplishment along with steady encouragement of progressive change. The US goal should be to help develop a more capable ally in Saudi Arabia, ready to exercise shared leadership over the long term. It is a policy that goes well beyond reassurance.”
-Richard LeBaron, Atlantic Council (republished in SUSRIS.com)
