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It will be the most difficult and personally most unpleasant trip abroad for US President Joe Biden – the planned visit to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman in June. So far, Biden has kept his maximum distance from the Saudis, since the regime leadership had journalist Jamal Khashoggi murdered in 2018. Now the Ukraine war and rising oil prices are forcing Biden to turn around. She is harshly criticized.
US President Joe Biden’s stance during the election campaign was crystal clear: the Saudis must pay a price for the assassination of critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. “The country should become the pariah state that it actually is,” he emphasized at the time. Arriving at the White House, words were followed by deeds: Biden had the US secret service report published, which – in addition to a UN investigation – identified the Saudi regime leadership as the mastermind behind the murder.
rapprochement signaled
Because of the Yemen war, he stopped the delivery of heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia and had the rebellious Houthis removed from the terrorist list. He tried to revive the nuclear deal with Iran, the archenemy of the Saudis. And, unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, who flattered the Saudis, he personally kept his distance: no visit to Riyadh, no invitation to the regime’s strongman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman, to Washington, not even a phone call.
It was the end of eighty years of friendship between the US and Saudi Arabia. The temporary end. Because now comes Biden’s about-face. Most involuntarily. He wants to travel to Riyadh soon and has signaled a rapprochement through his foreign minister and his advisers. Suddenly the US needs the Saudis.
Offended de facto ruler
They are supposed to open the oil tap wide in order to stabilize the prices, which have risen because of the Ukraine war and the boycotts against Russian oil. The Americans themselves do not purchase Saudi oil. But the increases in the price of petrol and heating oil also hit them. This creates resentment against the Biden administration and against the Democrats. And that’s tricky ahead of the midterm elections in November.
So Biden has to take a knee in Riyadh. Without being sure that the Saudis can and want to increase their oil production significantly, since they benefit enormously from the high price. In addition, the de facto ruler bin-Salman is offended that the United States has now given him the cold shoulder for a year and a half.
The United States must also make compromises
Biden’s travel plan has been sharply criticized by human rights organizations. This would practically rehabilitate ruler bin-Salman. Even from within its own ranks, the criticism is getting louder by the day. The influential Democratic MP Adam Schiff, chairman of the secret service committee, even wants to dissuade the president from visiting Riyadh. The fundamentally Biden-friendly “New York Times” writes of a triumph of interest politics over principles.
Biden’s about-face shows above all that the USA must also make compromises. If they want to be tough on Russia, they have to give in elsewhere. A potentate like the Saudi ruler is now benefiting from this.