Will the Biden Team Tighten or Unravel US-Saudi Ties?

Jan 27, 2021
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Also published in The Hill
Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Saudi Arabia
About the Authors
Simon Henderson
Simon Henderson

Simon Henderson is the Baker Senior Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute, specializing in energy matters and the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Articles & Testimony

Explosions in Riyadh, uncertainty about the Iran nuclear deal, and a potentially damaging CIA report about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder are among the many factors that could alter the new administration’s calculus.

Many thought U.S.-Saudi relations were going to be an early casualty of the Biden administration. Perhaps they still will be, but for the moment the ties are strengthening. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported “U.S. Forces Expand Reach in Saudi Arabia.” On Sunday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz had reported “Israel Allows U.S. to Deploy Iron Dome Missile Defense in the Gulf.” Quite where the missiles will be deployed is not being disclosed, but the kingdom would be one obvious destination. Yet these developments are surely vulnerable to any readjustment of relations or reduction in U.S. posture in the Gulf...

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