Saudi Arabia: A Weakened Alliance

For 70 years, Saudi Arabia and the United States have made a priority of their close alliance, which means a secure supply of oil — among other things — for the superpower, and guaranteed survival and a massive supply of arms for the feudal monarchy. This idyllic relationship is looking compromised, however, to judge by the latest Saudi maneuvers. Most spectacularly, two weeks ago Riyadh rebuffed the offer of a seat on the U.N. Security Council, despite having long cherished the idea. The decision was effectively intended as a snub to Barack Obama, who the Saudis are beginning to view as an unreliable ally.

Traditionally, Saudi grievances with the United States have been settled with surreptitious diplomacy, in the best tradition of the fundamentalist monarchy. However, the progress of events in the Middle East — largely a reflection of the unstoppable Sunni-Shiite conflict — has caused the misunderstanding to snowball. Riyadh perceives Obama to be on the wrong side of the fence. It notes his lack of resolve on whether to respond militarily to Bashar al-Assad, his zigzag policy on Egypt after the fall of Mubarak and his passivity on the issues of Israeli excesses against the Palestinians and the disintegration of Iraq. But Saudi fury has been well and truly roused by the U.S. president’s sudden rapprochement with Iran, aimed at preventing the ayatollahs from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran, as a Shiite nation, is the Saudi leadership’s archenemy in the Sunni-Shiite conflict between the two main Islamic sects. A rapprochement between Washington and Tehran would erase all the time and money so far invested in patiently building a regional front against Iran. An eventual thaw [in U.S.-Iranian relations] would not only relegate Saudi Arabia to a position of less influence in the region, it would also fuel Shiite grievances and demands in numerous countries currently within Riyadh’s sphere of influence.

Though Saudi Arabia is far from an ideal ally for any country that claims to be a defender of democratic principles, its relationship with the United States has served the interests of both nations for decades. Obama is currently prioritizing a nuclear agreement with Iran and the promotion of peace between Palestinians and Israelis. These objectives will be hard to achieve against the opposition of a regime whose doctrinal influence and unlimited economic resources make it a powerful peddler of influence in the Arab world.