What Trump Victory Means To Us?
28 November 2016
By Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi
WHAT does the arrival of President-elect Donald Trump mean for us? How much
would that affect Saudi relations with the US?
I have heard this question a lot since last Wednesday, and my answer is that:
Relations with the United States stand on three bases: Mutual interests,
fundamental strategies and political cooperation.
On the first base is a deeply-rooted, time-tested and powerful 85-year-old's
partnership, since the oil agreement was signed with US oil companies during
the early 1930s. This partnership has expanded to cooperation in military,
security, financial, commercial, educational and developmental areas in the
following decades.
Saudi Arabia, today, is the largest market for a wide range of American
products, which reached $20 billion in 2015, and more in the form of
investments. From F15 to Dreamliner, GMC to iPhone, oil drillers to security
systems, Coca cola to McDonald, US products are flooding our markets and
satisfying our daily needs.
The US market has accomodated hundreds of billions of investment and oil and
petrochemical products. Generations of Saudis have graduated from US schools
and universities, military and security academies and returned to lead a
comprehensive developmental renaissance that built up the country to one the
of world most developed, largest economies, and best equipped armies.
This sort of relationship is what the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King
Abdulaziz Al-Saud, envisioned when he said that Britain is a friend, but
America is a partner, and partners come before friends.
The second base is at the intersection of regional and international strategic
interests, the convergence of objectives and similarity of means. Both
countries are working for global and regional peace and protecting the
security of international waterways in the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea in
order to fight terrorism and drain its resources. They are supporting UN
efforts in the fields of environmental protection, human rights and free
trade. They are also striving to achieve these lofty goals through peaceful
and defensive means, such as providing material and political support to
concerned international organizations and to enforce resolution through
implementation of Security Council and international arbitration institutions.
The third base is cooperation to resolve regional conflicts, such as the
Palestinian, Syrian and Yemeni, and Iranian interventions and violations of UN
resolutions.
Saudi-US agreement on the first and second bases is almost full. At the third
base, the two allies agree on goals and might disagree on mechanisms and
details. For example, on the Palestinian issue we agree on a two-state
solution, but disagree on the method of implementation. In Syria we agree on
the application of Geneva 1 framework, and all Security Council resolutions,
but disagree on how to support the Syrian opposition and respond to the
Russian intransigence. In Yemen, our agreement is full on the implementation
of the Security Council resolutions and on US Kerry Peace Plan.
Still Saudi-US relations are not free from thorny issues, such as JASTA Law,
and US leniency toward troublemakers — Iran and Israel. However, these
differences are normal in any relationship, and as a result of different
interests and visions toward certain issues and style.
Perhaps the new American president will be more assertive in dealing with
terrorism sponsors and troublemakers in the region, as promised. These include
Iran and its sponsored militias, like Hezbollah, Daesh, Al-Qaeda and the
Houthis.
As for election promises, such as charging allies for protection, I expect the
new president to be briefed by his state, intelligence and defense team,
during his first days in office, that US foreign military bases and access
privileges are there to serve its own interests, guarding international
waterways, fighting terrorism and protecting Israel. And that what America had
for free or almost free, other superpowers, like Russia, China, France and
Britain, would pay hefty fees for.
All in all, US-Saudi relations have been built on solid grounds, since founded
by King Abdulaziz Al-Saud and the 32nd US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in
the 1930s. They remain so, thanks to the good works of thirteen presidents and
six kings, up to the seventh king, Salman Bin Abdulaziz and the forty-fifth
President, Donald Trump.
These constants and fundamentals will not be affected by a change of leaders.
However, policies and stands over certain issues may do.
Hopefully, the new leadership may find it more rewarding and beneficial to US
interests if it cooperates with it allies and partners in good faith. We have
tried two-faced politics for eight years and it was ugly. Let's try, ''What
you see is what you get'' leaders, it might get better!
— Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be
reached at kbatarfi@gmail.com. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi
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