Can Obama pacify the Saudi anger?
- By Jin Liangxiang
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 28, 2014
Last but not least, it is also not possible that the United States will broker a balanced peace agreement between Palestine and Israel, which has long been an obstacle in U.S.-Saudi relations. As always, the U.S. administration remains under pressure of Jewish lobbyists.
However, even though the problems will persist in the relations between both nations, neither can pay for the cost of a divorce. Due to its energy resources, Saudi Arabia has always been an important player in international politics, but does not possess the proportionate military capability. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been looking at each other as rivals for many years, but Iran has a population of 75 million, three times that of Saudi Arabia, and armed forces of 900,000 soldiers, nine times the size of Saudi Arabia.
For this precise reason, Saudi Arabia has to take it as the national strategy to depend on the United States for security protection. There should be no changes here in the foreseeable future as no other major powers can replace the United States in providing security.
Saudi Arabia is also highly relevant to U.S. interests. Many international observers believe that Saudi Arabia will still be important for the United States economically. The United States in turn will have to regard Saudi Arabia as an ally in maintaining reasonable oil prices in international markets, which is also one of the preconditions for prosperity of the U.S. economy.
Nevertheless, U.S. oil import from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf has decreased in recent years as a result of so-called shale gas revolution. What is even more important, the United States has to make sure that oil from Saudi Arabia is paid in U.S. dollars -- one of the foundations of the hegemony of the U.S. dollar.
All in all, Obama can reiterate that Washington does care about the Saudi concerns, but it simply still cannot meet Saudi concerns by taking action. And thus the Saudi anger cannot be pacified.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://china.org.cn/opinion/jinliangxiang.htm
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