The U.S. and Saudi Relations in the Early 1990s: Why the Saudis aren’t Necessarily Entering the Middle East

“Many in D.C. believe that Saudi Arabia is aligning itself with Russia at a time when Russians are killing Ukrainians, and the world is facing an energy crisis,” says Bordoff.

Over the past seven decades, the U.S. and Saudi governments have seen their share of ups and downs.

It said the oil decision was “based purely on economic considerations,” and that the U.S.-Saudi relationship “serves the common interests of both countries.”

President Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia in July. He was unable to secure greater oil production from the Saudis, who would soon lead an effort to cut oil production by some 2 million barrels a day. There were conflicting reports regarding what was said between the president and the Saudi crown prince in regards to human rights and the killing of a Saudi critic.

“It feels punitive against the Biden administration,” says Jonathan Panikoff, an expert on Middle East security at the Atlantic Council and a former U.S. intelligence analyst on the region.

Panikoff believes that the Saudis aren’t naive about the U.S. political situation. They were happy to do it, even if it wasn’t the core reason.

The U.S. Approach to the Saudi Arabian Arms Trade Crisis: The Case Against Algeremic Inflation and the Non-Demandation of the Middle East

Global inflation, soaring interest rates, and simmering conflicts in the Middle East were reasons that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its forecasts for crude oil demand in the coming months.

Maksad says that U.S. officials were in contact with their counterparts in the Gulf region before the meeting. He says there was an understanding of what the U.S. administration was pressuring members of the oil cartel to do.

The Atlantic Council’s Panikoff thinks it would be better if the weapons sales were stopped to Saudi Arabia because it would allow China to fill the void. He believes that the U.S. should be more cautious in its approach to the Saudis.

“I don’t think we’ve fully accepted the notion that he is a different leader than we’ve ever dealt with. And so we’re going to have to have a different relationship,” he says.

He theorizes that we might not sell the more advanced aircraft. “Maybe we remove some Patriot batteries and say, ‘Look, we recognize your security, we’re not trying to diminish it. … We have to balance our security objectives as well.

The Saudi-Asia Crisis: Changing Relations between the U.S. and China through the Cosmic Coronavirus Epidemic

China has developed economic ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia over the years. Heykal notes thatChina has positioned itself as a partner by supplying weapons like drones to Gulf states that the US has refused to do.

With a third term under his belt, Xi is hoping to use the trip to grow China’s influence in the Middle East and compete with the United States. China wants to export more of its technology and deepen its investments in areas like ports, mining, nuclear technology and defense in the Middle East.

For Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the visit is an opportunity to cement his place as the prime minister of a country seen as a regional anchor and heavyweight.

Bernard Heykal, a professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University who has had ties with the Saudi royal court, wrote in the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news website that China is eroding Washington’s role as a regional powerbroker. He said the relationship between Riyadh and Washington deteriorated because of criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

Gulf Arab officials have said before that the United States is increasingly focused on China in East Asia and is not interested in the region.

He saidGulf leaders know that the current situation allows opportunism on their part. They believe they have a better chance of playing the U.S. and China against one another in ways that benefit their own interests.

They’re maintaining ties with all sides and using this competition to their advantage. This visit by Xi is an example of how they refuse to be pulled to any one side.

The visit marks only the third time for Xi to travel abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began three years ago. He left China for the first time since protests erupted against his government’s COVID-19 policies. The government responded to those protests by loosening some measures this week, including allowing people to quarantine at home rather than a state facility if they test positive for the virus.