For U.S. President Joe Biden, who might prefer not to visit the Middle East this week or any other week,
he has too much work to do. Biden's Democratic colleagues in the U.S. Congress appear to be facing dismal election results after the midterm elections in November. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked the most serious rivalry between the world's largest nuclear-armed powers since the Cold War. And of course China is actively watching for signs of America's decline, as it continues its march toward superpower. To make matters more troubling, President Biden's past visits to the Middle East have shown the limits of American national power: As President Obama's deputy, he visited Jerusalem and called for a freeze on Israel's project to build Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. . At the time, he was humiliated by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even though these new settlement projects violated international law. Biden will visit Israel this time and will spend a few hours in Palestine before heading to Saudi Arabia, where he will attend a summit of Gulf leaders. The leaders of Jordan, Egypt and Iraq will also participate in the summit.
loss of trust Politically, Biden's trip could serve as another reminder that U.S. influence in the Middle East continues to shrink. He may reiterate his call for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, implementing a so-called "two-state" solution. But he knew that when he left, that hope would still be as far away as it was in the past. Biden, however, has reinstated U.S. financial aid to Palestine. Even more embarrassingly, Biden will ask the Saudi leader to do a big favor: produce more oil and sell it at a lower price. That's because the economic turmoil caused by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has left the United States, like the rest of the world, facing high energy prices, even though they are now no longer dependent on oil imports from the Gulf. But for Biden, the political ramifications are immediate, and every penny that goes up per gallon of gasoline in the U.S. will cost Democrats more votes in the midterm elections.The U.S. made the plea at an awkward moment to Saudi Arabia, which has already spent billions on weapons. In 2011, President Barack Obama unceremoniously abandoned the country's President Hosni Mubarak after weeks of street demonstrations in Egypt. After that, Saudi Arabia no longer trusted Washington. They reasoned that if Americans could do this to a loyal friend, they could do it to anyone. Furthermore, one of Biden's first actions in the White House was the release of a U.S. intelligence report that stated that Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted to act for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Jamal Khashoggi was held responsible for the brutal murder, which deepened Saudi suspicions of the United States. In 2018, Khashoggi was killed and dismembered when he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up some official documents. Saudi Arabia has consistently denied the charge of ordering the killing. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a century of grudges,
Khashoggi's death: US intelligence report says Saudi prince approved murder plan Oil prices skyrocket: OPEC's reason for "holding back" and its potential impact on China In addition, Biden called Saudi Arabia a "pariah state" during his presidential campaign, murdering critics and imprisoning many prominent political dissidents. For the Saudis, they therefore feel they owe the US president no favors. Now, to the embarrassment of some Biden supporters, Biden is preparing to take back what he said. Presidents of the United States do not usually visit such a country. The White House has an ambitious but vague set of ideas to force Russia to sell its oil at a lower price. After Russia invaded Ukraine, the West imposed sanctions on Moscow, but oil and gas revenues still flowed into Russian coffers. Therefore, the U.S. plan to deplete these funds will not work without Saudi support.READ MORE HERE https://ayanazvs.blogspot.com/2022/07/blog-post.html