If you’re interested in a view that opposes the current prevailing wisdom about Saudi Arabia, driven by outrage over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, this op-ed by Michael Doran and Tony Badran gives it the old college try. Here’s its conclusion:
The murder of Mr. Khashoggi was a brutal and grotesque act. The United States has registered its feelings loudly and clearly by putting sanctions on the 17 men who were directly involved in the killing. Punishing the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia will not bring justice for Mr. Khashoggi, nor will it make Saudi Arabia a more dependable ally. It will simply diminish the influence of the United States and embolden its enemies.
The biblical advice to be as “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves†offers sound counsel to anyone who seeks to see their principles influence the world. The advice of Mr. Trump’s critics is long on abstract morality but lacking in strategic wisdom.
My view is somewhat different. With or without murdering Jamal Khashoggi the Saudi regime would be heinous and our enemies. We cannot avoid their influence but we don’t need them. We shouldn’t be supplying them with weapons or furnishing other support to them.
My guess is that they will just defend whatever Trump does. If Trump suddenly turns around and stops sending arms to SA they will then defend that move. Anyway, SA is not our ally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIP6EwqMEoE
Steve
If all the members of the House of Saud disappeared tomorrow, would the new rulers of that land be an improvement from a US security perspective?
I doubt it. They might well be worse. The devil you know and all that.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it presently exists is an anomaly. It actually should be at least three countries: the north and east (where much of the oil is and where the population was/is Shi’ite, the Saud heartland in central and south Arabia, and the Muslim holy places in the west.