MESOP MIDDLE EAST INSIGHT : OBAMA AS A TRAVELLING MAN

29-3-2014 – President Barack Obama on Friday traveled to Saudi Arabia for what had long been anticipated as a fence-mending visit, after months of increasingly public disagreements between the US and its traditional Gulf allies over Washington’s posture towards Shiite expansionism, on the one hand, and political Islamists within the Sunni world, on the other. The Saudis have been openly furious with the White House over what they consider to be weakness toward Iran and disregard for the dangers posed to Arab regimes by the Muslim Brotherhood.

The BBC explained that “the Saudis have yet to forgive [President Obama] for turning his back on Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011” – a controversy that was followed by further disagreements over how to approach Egypt’s subsequent Muslim Brotherhood-linked government and, a year later, the Egyptian army’s overthrow of that government – and that “the Sunni royals feel encircled by Shia Iran and its allies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain, and are worried the US is indifferent to the anxiety this causes.” The outlet bluntly stated that “the Saudis may not be entirely wrong.” The Telegraph described Washington and Riyadh as “at loggerheads over every burning issue in the Middle East.” The Hill described the administration as “at odds with all” of America’s key Middle Eastern allies. A New York Times article from last December had already quoted former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal blasting the administration for inaction against Iranian clients in Syria, describing President Obama’s red lines against the use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime as having become “pinkish as time grew, and eventually… completely white.” Comments from administration officials on the eve of the visit however downplayed reports that the President would seek to substantially ease Riyadh’s concerns. The Daily Caller conveyed comments from White House foreign policy chief Ben Rhodes brushing off suggestions that President Obama would agree to take a tougher line with Iran or change his stance regarding the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Reports of the visit will be closely scrutinized as signals regarding Washington’s broader approach to the region. Recent years have seen the emergence and hardening of three regional blocs in the Middle East, with Washington’s Arab and Israeli allies aligned opposite Iran and its clients, and both aligned opposite a radical Sunni camp composed of Turkey, Qatar, the Brotherhood, and their allies. Observers have at various times expressed frustration over what they insist is Washington’s refusal to decisively side with its traditional allies.