The National Interest magazine highlights the consequences of the mistakes made by the Biden administration in dealing with Saudi Arabia.
The Biden administration made a mistake with Saudi Arabia and its crown prince when it criticized the Saudis, describing them as “pariahs”.
This response came after the incident of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The Biden administration started at the time from the reality of increasing energy production in the United States and the lack of urgent need for Saudi oil.
Despite Saudi Arabia and Israel’s concerns about Iran, the Biden administration tried to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran.
However, all political and diplomatic calculus changed when war broke out in Ukraine, and the Biden administration found that it was operating in an international system dominated by a diplomatic and military struggle between the superpowers over territory and resources.
Energy prices have also skyrocketed, and if Mohammed bin Salman raised oil prices or flirted with the Russians or the Chinese, then this is more important than standing up on human rights issues.
In addition, since other powers don’t interfere with the approach of Saudi Arabia or others with regard to democracy and human rights, they focus on their geostrategic interests.
Therefore, it seems realistic to achieve a joint security agreement through which the United States guarantees the security of Saudi Arabia.
It seems, of course, in US interest to seek normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel so that the United States can contain the Iranian threat and help Saudi Arabia develop a civilian nuclear program.
Perhaps this will require some prices to pay; As if Muhammad bin Salman stipulates stopping settlements and committing to a Palestinian state.
It may require Netanyahu to abandon some of the more extreme right-wing figures such as Itamar, Gvir and Smotrich.
In this case, Netanyahu may have to coordinate with the centrist parties in the Knesset to reach an agreement on the controversial crisis related to judicial reform.
But all of this will be in the interest of the United States.
