William Molinie
modified to
9:21 p.m., July 15, 2022
US President Joe Biden met and “checked” with the fist on Friday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, accused of serious human rights violations and considered by Washington to have ordered the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It is the image of the day on the diplomatic scene, because it was totally unexpected. Joe Biden, who makes a “check” of the fist with Mohammed ben Salmane. The US President is on tour in the Middle East. He had however promised during his campaign to treat Saudi Arabia “as a pariah”. But Joe Biden landed earlier in Jeddah aboard Air Force One, hoping to reconcile with Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince.
A perilous encounter
Concretely, Joe Biden is trying to bring down gasoline prices, in the context of the war in Ukraine which has caused oil to rise to record highs. His goal as the American president is to convince the Gulf monarchies to open the floodgates and export more so that the markets can breathe again.
It is a perilous operation, first because the relationship between Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, and Joe Biden is conflictual. The US president has publicly held him responsible for the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which Riyadh has always denied. This meeting is an opportunity to turn the page on this estrangement. It is also a balancing act for Joe Biden, who at the same time seeks to remain faithful to the defense of human rights. This meeting marks the return of Saudi Arabia to the concert of nations
Joe Biden unpopular in the United States
This move is highly criticized in the United States, just months before the midterm elections next November. The risk is that the American president will further scratch his popularity, even though less than one in three Americans today want Joe Biden to be a candidate for his succession in 2024, according to a poll relayed by the American press at the beginning of the month. .