The Biden administration can defend itself by arguing that all countries must be practical in their pursuit of their interests, and that sometimes that means doing business with unsavory nations. (When the White House tried arranging a call with Saudi Arabia in the weeks after Russia’s invasion, MBS reportedly rebuffed him.) The very premise of the U.S.’s close strategic ties with countries in the Gulf for decades has been access to energy supplies, the lifeblood of the modern economy. I always believed Biden's pivot on Saudi Arabia was inevitable the moment energy woes or a security crisis in the region emerged. is aiding Ukraine with such great intensity isn’t due to an unwavering commitment to fighting bullies, but because Russia is an adversary whose resource depletion and geopolitical decline serves U.S. And it's a reminder that the main reason the U.S. In Opinion we provide a forum for wide-ranging political, social, personal and whimsical expression and commentary on. Resetting ties with Saudi Arabia makes sense for the Biden administration because the country is a vital security and energy partner for the U.S. foreign policy is based on a consistent application of moral principles is a lie. While he has deployed rhetoric of standing up to tyrants in his approach to Russia-Ukraine and his decision to bar Cuba and Venezuela from the Summit of the Americas, that bravado becomes a whimper when it comes to Saudi Arabia, a country that’s ruthlessly authoritarian and a regional bully.īiden is able to find this tolerable because the narrative that U.S. will be able to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil.)īiden’s reversal helps clarify what actually drives his foreign policy: American geopolitical interests. (Some experts, however, are skeptical of the idea that the U.S. White House officials reportedly believe that a deal in which Saudi Arabia agrees to produce more oil and help lower prices could come in the months after this meeting.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the global response to it has destabilized the world's oil supply, and consumers around the world are feeling the pain Biden surely knows his plunging approval ratings are tied to the spike in the price of gas across America. It’s not the only reason Biden is resetting its relationship with Saudi Arabia, but it’s a big one, and it’s certainly contributing to the timing of the trip. Not only was Biden’s op-ed unconvincing - his promise to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” sounded a lot more rupture than reorient - but it also downplayed a major reason for the trip that the administration has mostly avoided talking about: oil.

Nytimes opinion