Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Saudi Arabia, last week, for three declared reasons - to make sure the anti-Islamic State coalition maintains its important function; to confer with the Gulf Cooperation Council and to improve the bilateral relationship between Washington and Riyadh. His trip took place imminently after his AIPAC speech, in which he indicated the possibility of further steps on the road to Saudi-Israeli normalization, but cautioned that this long-expected development will first have to meet certain conditions. Blinken’s visit was also held against the backdrop of diplomatic and commercial American competition with Russia and especially China, and though the Biden administration is vowing that there would be no Mideast vacuum to fill, as the U.S. moves its top priorities elsewhere, China seems to already take advantage of the regionally perceived readjustment of American attention.
To analyze the latest in U.S.-Saudi relations;
We are joined from Washington DC by;
Ambassador William Roebuck, Executive Vice President of Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
And from Istanbul, Turkey – by;
Brigadier General (Ret.) Mark Kimmitt, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.
And Col. (Ret.) Dr. Eran Lerman, Co-host TV7 Middle East Review and Vice President - Jerusalem Institute for Strategy Security
And Amir Oren, Editor at Large
