The Day After
By Ayman Hakki
In March of 1991, George Herbert Walker Bush was riding high in the polls. With the approval rating approaching 90%. King Fahd of Saudi Arabia was indebted to him, and Prince Bandar the Kingdom’s ambassador here was close to the President. By the end of 1992, he had lost popularity due to a multitude of factors. The chief of which was domestic in nature. At a crucial juncture in a lackluster campaign for reelection, gas prices had gone up. It is rumored that it was suggested to him to appeal to King Fahd, to increase oil production, help bring down gas prices and win, but he refused and lost.
In April of 2018, Barack Obama met with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Tension between the two states was riding high over his entreaties towards Iran. He was met at the airport by a low-level delegation and was reportedly lectured by a young Prince in a meeting with the royal court. MBS, as he is now known, was a 30-year-old Defense Minister. It was rumored that American officials at that meeting were stunned by the audacity of the young hot head, and the serene composure of Obama in face of that lecture. Ben Hubbard in his Book MBS: “The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman”, documented that meeting. Where the prestige of the United States was shredded, and our President was belittled.
In the coming days, (mid-June 2022) Joe Biden, our 46th president will be visiting the Kingdom and meeting with MBS. Like George Bush Sr. we are in the midst of an economic crisis and gas prices are at the center of the political domestic debate. Which President will he emulate? Will he stand on principle and risk losing the upcoming election, as did George W.H. Bush? Or will he hat-in-hand cow-tow to the Crown Prince, and be lectured to?
Time will tell. I am interested in the optics that will arise from the upcoming meeting. More than our economic or political future is at stake; the prestige of the United is at stake. If the Jamal Kashoggi affair is swept under the rug, our global standing will suffer. If economic considerations rule the day, we as a nation will have lost. We are living in interesting times.
