The Case for a Grand Strategic Bargain Between the KSA and the USA

Everyone wants something in diplomacy and the way to get it is usually through rapprochement and emphasis on common interests. MBS is an unconventional leader with a special mind; as an autistic person I can appreciate that he thinks differently than most other players in the international community and is clearly resented and perhaps evenContinue reading “The Case for a Grand Strategic Bargain Between the KSA and the USA”

Rethinking the American-Saudi-Israeli Triangular Relationship

In a 2021 visit to Saudi Arabia by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud offered to fully normalize relations with Israel in return for advanced American weapons sales and a US-Saudi defense pact whereby the US would promise to defend the KSA in the event Saudi Arabia was invadedContinue reading “Rethinking the American-Saudi-Israeli Triangular Relationship”

The US Needs to Provide Incentives to Saudi Arabia

In 2021 Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman al-Saud made a generous offer to US National Security Advisory Jake Sullivan. MBS offered to normalize relations with Israel in return for a list of demands for so-called “incentives” (i.e. security guarantees and weapons sales). The Americans not only inexplicably turned down the generous offer but apparently rudelyContinue reading “The US Needs to Provide Incentives to Saudi Arabia”

MBS is Awaiting the Return of Trump

American-Saudi relations are in a state of deep freeze. Riyadh refuses to heed Washington’s appeals for increased oil production and MBS refuses to speak with Biden after the president recently ended his yearlong boycott against the crown prince. MBS has apparently concluded that Biden is an enemy of Saudi Arabia in all but name andContinue reading “MBS is Awaiting the Return of Trump”

Is America Planning to Disengage from Islamdom?

Middle Eastern governments are convinced that the Biden administration is intent on continuing the Trump administration policy of disengagement from Islamdom, yet the US government denies this. Who should we believe? Assuming that the governments of the region are correct in their unanimous assessment of US intentions, a plausible explanation would then be that theContinue reading “Is America Planning to Disengage from Islamdom?”

The US Disengagement from the Middle East

The problem the US faces in the Middle East is fundamental lack of credibility. US allies do not believe in the US and Iran does not fear America. US rhetoric about “looking at other options” does not deter Iran nor does it impress US allies. After giving up Afghanistan does the US face a fundamentalContinue reading “The US Disengagement from the Middle East”