Politico news website quoted a US senior State Department official as saying that “integration within the region is one of the real meta themes of the [Biden] visit.” The goal is “to get it progressively moving in the direction of economic integration, political, diplomatic integration.”
Reuters summed up the real reasons behind Biden's visit to the Middle East this week in discussing energy security with OPEC leaders.
Along the same line, Haaretz Hebrew newspaper said US President Joe Biden doesn’t really have time for a trip to Saudi Arabia, which will do nothing to boost his approval rating especially that he will meet with Prince Mohammed bin Salman – a man Biden vowed to turn into a pariah following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The above reports confirms that Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)'s dreams to be one of the prominent leaders in the region will never come true as Saudi Arabia is no long on the top US priorities or interests. The US' relationship with Saudi Arabia has been in a downward spiral over the past years. This is why Biden used his first trip to the Middle East to expand and deepen the process of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Critics affirmed that the main aim of his trip is to increase Israel's security and deepen its integration in the region, while his main focus would be energy and to bring down oil prices.
In its turn, the Washington Post said that Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia takes place against a backdrop of competition with China, efforts to isolate Russia and concern about energy production.
Biden will become the first US president to fly directly to Saudi Arabia from Israel, which is seen as a small but significant sign of Riyadh's growing acceptance of Israel.
Reports have circulated that the secret aim behind Biden's Middle East visit is to reinforce the idea of a “Middle East Strategic Alliance”, abbreviated by the media as MESA, to function as a so-called “Arab NATO.”
The Jewish Insider website indicated that the Biden's visit came to confirm that he needs the Middle Eastern country on his side as he prepares for a new era of confrontation with Russia and China.
The US administration has long seen Saudi Arabia as oil and gas facilities that should be used to reinforce its empire in the region and East Asia.
Critics indicate that US-Saudi current relations will never be the same as Donald Trump's era. Saudi Arabia was the first foreign destination Donald Trump visits as the President of the United States in 2017. However, Biden will unwillingly visit Saudi Arabia as it comes as a third stop in his first Middle East visit. His visit opens in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
