Saudi Arabia

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – If you thought the polarization of politics in the United States was corrosive, brace yourself for the even more corrosive polarization of geopolitics. By John Feffer | July 20, 2022 The fist bump has been the default method of person-to-person contact in the COVID era. Shaking hands is […]

Featured

Bin Salman: US Whitewashed Israeli Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, so why is Biden so upset about Khashoggi?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, pulled back the curtain for the Alarabiya news channel (Saudi-owned but based in Dubai) on what transpired at the meeting between President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman: Al-Jubeir confirmed that Biden, as he had pledged, quickly […]

China

In Saudi Arabia, Biden Plays Defense against Russia, China, Iran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Although President Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia was ostensibly about petroleum and attempting to lower gasoline prices in the US, it doesn’t seem to me that that rationale entirely explains Biden’s about-face on Saudi Arabia. For one thing, Biden must have been told that Saudi Arabia does not have […]

Arms Sales

Biden Should Not Renew Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

Human Rights Watch

By Michael Page | Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – President Biden is set to land in Saudi Arabia later this week to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid disturbing media reports that, if true, signal a policy reversal that could lead to […]

Climate Crisis

The Troubling Message of Biden’s Trip to Saudi Arabia

Basav Sen

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – President Biden has set out on his travels to Saudi Arabia. The implications of the trip for the intertwined issues of human rights and energy policy are dire. The Saudi Arabia visit represents a 180-degree turn for Biden, who once called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” while campaigning for president. […]

censorship

Biden once wanted to make Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’ – so why is he playing nice with the kingdom’s repressive rulers now?

The Conversation

By Jeffrey Fields, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences | – (The Conversation) – Even before setting foot in the Middle East for his first visit to the region as president, Joe Biden felt compelled to defend a portion of the trip. “I know that there are many who disagree with my decision […]

Featured

On Cusp of Biden visit to Saudi Arabia, GAO questions US Accounting for Civilian Harm caused in Yemen by its Weapons

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden is on the cusp of going off to Saudi Arabia as one part of his upcoming Middle East trip. One of the failures of Mr. Biden has been completely disengaging the US from the Saudi-led war on Yemen, which he had pledged to do. Although there has been […]

Apartheid

Saudi Arabia: Biden Visit Risks Fostering Repression: US Should Publicly Seek Rights Commitments, Reforms

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – US President Joe Biden’s expected visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman risks encouraging new abuses and further entrenching impunity, 13 human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, said today in a joint letter to President Biden. The Biden administration should secure clear and […]

Authoritarianism

Biden Reverses himself on Saudi “Pariah,” needing Riyadh’s Oil to Punish Putin for Ukraine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden ran on making Saudi Arabia a “pariah,” given that the CIA accused Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of authorizing the murder in 2018 of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Istanbul Saudi consulate. Biden and a bipartisan majority in the US Congress were also upset about […]