William Molinié, edited by Romain Rouillard
Against the backdrop of the energy crisis, Joe Biden visits Mohammed Bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The objective for Washington is to soften its relations with the oil power of the Gulf so that it agrees to export more black gold, which would automatically lower prices.
After the Khashoggi affair, this Saudi journalist killed in Istanbul, the United States had qualified Saudi Arabia as a “pariah state”. But today, the time has come for the normalization of relations between Washington and Riyadh. This Friday, US President Joe Biden is visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. And against the background of the energy crisis, the tone has changed.
It must be said that the war in Ukraine has raised the price of oil to record levels. Joe Biden therefore wants Saudi Arabia to open the floodgates of black gold and export more to bring prices down. It’s a sort of return to realpolitik for Washington, whose objective is to turn the page on the estrangement that followed the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
A move strongly criticized
American intelligence had accused Mohammed Bin Salman, the crown prince, of having validated this assassination in early 2021, which Saudi Arabia denied. Joe Biden had promised, in the process, to treat the Gulf monarchy as a pariah state.
Although the tone is calming, Friday’s trip, his first as US president, is very risky for Joe Biden. The head of state is the subject of strong internal criticism where he is accused of reversal. If he has to meet “MBS”, we don’t know if this interview will be made public, but it’s all about image.
The photo of the handshake between Biden and MBS would sign Saudi Arabia’s return to the concert of nations, but it would risk further damaging the unpopularity of Joe Biden, who is already reaching heights in the United States. Less than one in three Americans now want him to run for his own estate in 2024, according to a poll revealed by the press earlier this month.