Researchers at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated that the US president’s reluctance to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accountable “is a failure of his policies in the White House.”
Sarah Yerkes, a researcher in the Middle East program said that the approach of the Biden administration in dealing with the Middle East and North Africa region has been disappointing for people who expected a sharp change from the new office.
Yerkes stated that President Biden pledged several times to stand up for democracy and human rights in various parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, however, he failed to fulfill his promise, and it became apparent that Washington’s commitment to democracy and human rights is just media propaganda.
While Biden refused to communicate personally with Mohammed bin Salman, he also refrained from holding him accountable for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, despite US intelligence confirming the Saudi crown prince’s complicity.
Yasmine Farouk, a non-resident researcher in the Middle East program also said that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement “that the partnership with Saudi Arabia is strong and important” summed up Biden’s policy with Saudi Arabia.
The US has to keep a friendly relationship with Saudi Arabia in order to counter the Chinese influence, stabilize oil prices, conclude an agreement with Iran, and maintain congressional support through a solution to the conflict in Yemen.
Riyadh also realised that strengthening the US partnership with other Gulf states contributes to marginalising the Kingdom, which is no longer has a vital role, therefore it has to make concessions in order to maintain American support.
Recently, Saudi Arabia released some political detainees and reduced its hard-line foreign policy, launched two climate initiatives, in line with Biden’s focus on climate change, and worked on diversifying its international relations, which indicates that it will not comply with Washington’s policies regarding oil, China, or even Yemen.
