MBS’ Diplomatic Game

The reality is that America and Israel are absolutely indispensable to Saudi Arabia militarily speaking. The Saudi military could not defeat the Houthis in Yemen and so how could it for all its advanced American weaponry defend itself against Iran? So why is MBS playing the infidelity game with Iran (towards Israel) and with China (towards America)? MBS has no alternatives to Israel and America. Saudi Arabia cannot defend itself on its own and MBS knows it. So why the infidelity games? The flirt with China is intended to spur the US to acquiesce to MBS’ demands and the flirt with Iran is intended to spur Jerusalem and American Jewry to lobby the US government to acquiesce to MBS’ demands. MBS is playing confident and cool when in fact he and the rest of the Saudi leadership are extremely nervous about both the Islamic Republic and the United States.