As Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recently at an event marking the 100th anniversary of Foreign Affairs magazine, “statecraft often involves making difficult choices.” officials say the president now views America’s global engagement, and his own role as a world leader, through a different lens than when he first took office, one in which cold hard realism takes precedence over moral considerations. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, senior U.S.

And that’s what I’m going to try to do.”įor Biden, there has already been a global “recalibration”- and it has taken the wind out of his campaign promise to overhaul U.S.-Saudi relations. “But as president of the United States, my job is to bring peace if I can. “I’m not going to change my view on human rights,” Biden said earlier this month at a briefing when asked about a possible trip to Saudi Arabia. In a recent letter to Biden, 13 human rights groups warned efforts to repair relations without human rights at the center “are not only a betrayal of your campaign promises, but will likely embolden the crown prince to commit further violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.” Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who helped draft the letter, said Biden should not visit the kingdom, citing MBS’ role in Khashoggi’s murder. Mindful of the potential political blowback, the White House has noticeably downplayed the prospects of a meeting with the crown prince in its messaging about the visit, focusing instead on its relationship with MBS’ father, King Salman, and a meeting of regional leaders Biden will have while visiting the kingdom, contrary to a statement by the Saudi embassy in Washington which previewed “official talks” between Biden and the crown prince.Ībout a half a dozen Democratic lawmakers sent the president a letter warning engagement with the kingdom should be aimed at “recalibrating that relationship to serve America’s national interests”- a not-so-subtle reminder of Biden’s early promise to “recalibrate” U.S.-Saudi ties. Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine told CNN the trip was a “really bad idea.” “His blood stain has not been cleansed,” he said. and Saudi officials involved in frank and often-tense discussions between the two sides since Biden took office suggest that it’s MBS’ vision, rather than Biden’s that has ended up charting the path forward between the two countries.Ĭritics pounced on the official announcement Tuesday morning.

This week, Biden announced a move that observers had long been expecting: An official visit to Saudi Arabia, effectively thawing diplomatic relations between the countries, and acknowledging that treating the powerful petrostate as a “pariah” would be a diplomatic dead end. As partners, MBS said the United States and Saudi Arabia should deal with each other with honesty and transparency. And there could be no surprises, particularly related to Biden’s stated desire to resume negotiations with Iran over a new nuclear deal. He would work to further peace in the region, but he needed a U.S. He told McGurk he was working to change his country, but that the pace and scope of the transformation must meet Saudi needs, not America’s. The crown prince had a few points of his own. Roosevelt in 1945, and he said he hoped to write the next chapter of it and transform it for the future. His grandfather, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, launched the U.S.-Saudi relationship with President Franklin D. In response, the Saudi crown prince - referred to in diplomatic circles by his initials, MBS - repeated his insistence that he did not personally order Khashoggi’s killing, but he agreed it should never have happened and was eager to fix the relationship.

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