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rfmcdonaldAt The Power and the Money, Noel Maurer notes Saudi displeasure with the United States' lack of support for the established order under Mubarak. At one point, the Saudis threatened to replace the United States as the foreign power subsidizing the Egyptian military, if the United States tried to cut things off. Saudi-American perspectives are diverging.
I don't know about the cracking of the empire. I do know that Egypt has traditionally been more prominent--economically, culturally, whatnot--than a Saudi Arabia made rich through oil, and that during much of the Cold War period a nominally modernizing Egypt/United Arab Republic was a bitter rival of a traditionalist and pro-American Saudi Arabia, their rivalry escalating to the point of near-open war in the North Yemeni civil war of the 1970s. Might the Saudis fear the emergence of an Egypt that, far from being beholden to Saudi Arabia, might--might--become a regional competitor again?
Thoughts?
Saudi Arabia has deep links with the United States. The above picture was taken in an Aramco compound in the country; it is no coincidence that it bears a frightening resemblance to the view from my brother’s backyard in Coral Springs, Florida. The nationalization of Aramco was uncontentious, favorable to the companies, and served American goals. Only twice have Saudi and American interests substantially diverged: briefly in 1973 when the Saudis embargoed oil shipments, a stand they rapidly reversed; and substantively in the past two decades with Saudi financing for Islamic radical movements. And to be fair, the Saudis have been increasingly helpful in combatting terrorist finance, although their best is not always that good. “We are trying, but if money wants to go it will go,” said Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in May 2009.
The break over Egypt, though, portends a deeper split. The U.S. has decided that it really does not get much from keeping Mubarak in power. The alternative is not really that scary, and might even be better. Riyadh has decided something different. Now, I do not think that Riyadh is going to get what it wants here, but if you want to look for signs of the American empire cracking at the seams, this is a pretty good one.
I don't know about the cracking of the empire. I do know that Egypt has traditionally been more prominent--economically, culturally, whatnot--than a Saudi Arabia made rich through oil, and that during much of the Cold War period a nominally modernizing Egypt/United Arab Republic was a bitter rival of a traditionalist and pro-American Saudi Arabia, their rivalry escalating to the point of near-open war in the North Yemeni civil war of the 1970s. Might the Saudis fear the emergence of an Egypt that, far from being beholden to Saudi Arabia, might--might--become a regional competitor again?
Thoughts?
