Saudi Arabia Needs America Back in Its Corner

Jan H. Kalicki

Politics, Middle East

Changes in Riyadh are a chance for Washington to reach out.

Saudi Arabia has just undertaken a large-scale reshuffle of its economic and social ministries as part of its “Saudi Vision 2030” plan to diversify the economy from its oil base. After over two decades of leading Saudi oil affairs, Ali al-Naimi has now been replaced by Khalid al-Falih, at the helm of a ministry that now includes industry as well as petroleum and mineral resources. Having risen to become an extremely capable CEO of Saudi Aramco before an interim assignment as health minister, Falih is a worthy successor to Naimi’s superlative leadership.

This cabinet reshuffle is part of a broader repositioning of Saudi Arabia under King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been entrusted with lead roles in both military and economic affairs. As defense minister, Prince Mohammed is responsible for the kingdom’s war against the Houthis in Yemen, whom the Saudi rulers see as proxies for Iran in the southern Arabian Peninsula.

Internationally, the contest with Iran and the divide between Sunnis and Shia overshadow Saudi policy. Domestically, job creation is the foremost imperative, with the challenge of unemployed or underemployed youth who are half of the kingdom’s population. For Saudi rulers, these are existential issues that command focused attention.

Of all foreign countries, the United States has been the kingdom’s closest and most important partner ever since its genesis as a modern state. Standard Oil of California was the first to discover and then to ship Saudi oil in the 1930s. King Saud and President Roosevelt sealed the oil for security pact at Great Bitter Lake in 1945. Since then, the United States has become the kingdom’s largest trade and investment partner, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis have been educated in American schools and universities. This represents a pool of shared experience that contrasts with the other, closed Wahhabi pillar of support for Saudi rule.