Most Americans reacted with horror and outrage as we learned about the barbaric murder of Saudi citizen, U.S. resident, and contributor to The Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi. According to recent reports, the CIA assesses Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) ordered the murder.
In the wake of this latest incident and other recent aggressive actions—kidnapping Lebanon’s prime minister, blockading Qatar, intervening in Yemen’s civil war, among others—it’s increasingly apparent that U.S.-Saudi relations need reappraisal.
However, as the Trump administration has argued, a strategic relationship must place higher value on safeguarding U.S. interests—in other words, our alliance with Saudi Arabia is a “necessary evil.”
But is that true? Is an alliance with Saudi Arabia a necessary evil?
Here are some of the overdue questions which should be answered about U.S.-Middle East policy and our relationship with Saudi Arabia:
• What are U.S. interests in the Middle East today, and how have they changed since the Cold War?
• What does Saudi Arabia do for the United States?
• Should we recalibrate U.S.-Saudi Arabia relations, treating it like a normal autocratic country?
• How should the United States pursue its legitimate security and prosperity interests in the region?
Join Defense Priorities for a discussion about these and other related issues.
Congressional staff only. (No interns please.)
Daniel L. Davis retired from the U.S. Army after 21 years of active service, which included four deployments into combat zones—Iraq (1991, 2009) and Afghanistan (2005, 2011)—and service as a U.S. advisor to the Second Republic of Korea Army (SROKA). He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor at the Battle of 73 Easting in 1991 while serving under President Trump's former National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, and awarded a Bronze Star Medal for service in Afghanistan in 2011.
Benjamin H. Friedman is an adjunct lecturer at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, a graduate of Dartmouth College, and a PhD candidate in political science at the MIT. He previously worked as a Defense Analyst at Cato and a Researcher at the Center for Defense Information. He's edited three books on defense policy and strategy, published academic essays in International Security, and published op-eds in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and more.
Kurt Couchman came to Defense Priorities after six years as a policy expert in congressional offices. Most recently, he was Legislative Director for a Republican member of the House of Representatives. He has developed initiatives and built coalitions in diverse fields such as foreign affairs, defense, trade, health care, transparency, housing finance, banking, and budget process, including two bipartisan balanced budget amendments with more than 60 co-sponsors each.
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