Saudi Arabia – PFYT2

UAE Breaks OPEC- Israel cannot squander the opportunity

penny2 — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:39:58 +0000

2 articles of interest

The UAE just broke OPEC — Israel must not squander this opening

Opinion: Abu Dhabi’s break with the Saudi-led oil cartel exposes a shifting Gulf order, giving Jerusalem a chance to deepen energy, security and trade ties with the UAE beyond the symbolism of the Abraham Accords

On paper, Abu Dhabi framed the decision as a matter of production flexibility, saying it wants the freedom to set policy according to its own long-term energy interests, without being bound by the cartel’s collective discipline. But in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf, nothing is only technical.

For decades, OPEC’s power rested not only on the number of barrels pumped out of the ground but on discipline: producers accepted limits, kept their disputes behind closed doors and projected a united front even as rivalries simmered beneath the surface. The UAE has now punctured that façade.

That is the first major consequence. OPEC becomes weaker not necessarily because oil prices collapse tomorrow, but because the mythology of control has been damaged.

The second consequence is aimed squarely at Saudi Arabia. The relationship between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi has long been presented as a Gulf partnership. It is also a rivalry.

Wonder how Saudi Arabia will deal with this?

This is where Israel should pay close attention.

The UAE has just signaled that it is prepared to break old frameworks when they no longer serve its interests, and Israel should take the hint. Since the Abraham Accords, the two countries have built a relationship rooted in trade, technology, security cooperation and shared concern over Iran, but it has not yet reached its full strategic potential. Abu Dhabi’s break with OPEC is a chance to move beyond symbolism, business delegations and polite conferences, and turn the partnership into something far more consequential.

First, Israel should position itself as a regional energy and infrastructure partner. The UAE wants flexibility, diversification and resilience. Israel can offer technology in cybersecurity, port security, desalination, energy storage, grid protection and drone defense. The Iran war has shown that energy infrastructure is now a front line. Israel and the UAE should build a joint energy security framework focused on protecting pipelines, ports, tankers, refineries and offshore assets.
We have already seen early signs of this budding cooperation, with Israel deploying an Iron Dome air defense battery to the UAE during the war, along with Israeli personnel to operate it and help defend its Gulf ally.

Second, Israel should move quickly on trade corridors. A UAE less tied to OPEC discipline and more focused on independent global reach will be looking for reliable routes to Europe and the Mediterranean

Third, Israel should use this moment to strengthen the moderate regional camp

Fourth, Israel should coordinate with Washington. The UAE’s move is also a win for U.S. pressure on OPEC. Israel can help frame the development as part of a broader realignment: energy producers, technology powers and security partners working outside old cartel logic to contain Iran and stabilize markets.

Iran enters cold war like phase..

The Iran conflict has entered a Cold War-like phase of financial sanctions, gunboat interdictions and talks about having talks.

Why it matters: The tense stalemate has no immediate end in sight. So higher energy prices appear certain for months — and a hot war could break out at any moment.

The big picture: Several U.S. officials told Axios they’re concerned about America getting drawn into a frozen conflict of no war and no deal.

In this scenario, the U.S. would have to keep its forces in the region for many more months. The Strait of Hormuz would stay closed, the U.S. blockade would remain, and both sides would continue waiting for the other to blink or fire first.
With the November midterm elections now six months away, "a frozen conflict is the worst thing for Trump politically and economically," one source close to the president said.

Zoom in: President Trump is vacillating between launching new military strikes or waiting to see whether his “maximum pressure” financial sanctions make Iran more inclined to negotiate an end to its nuclear weapons program, according to five advisers who have spoken with him.

"All [Iran's leaders] understand is bombs," Trump recently told one adviser, who relayed the comment to Axios.
"I would describe him as frustrated but realistic," the adviser said. "He doesn't want to use force. But he's not backing down."

Read both articles entirely at the links provided

Saudi/US/Ukraine Meeting; Minerals Deal, Intelligence gathering etc

penny2 — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 12:33:43 +0000

Going to do a grab bag of news;

Trump say’s they’ve just about lifted the restrictions on intelligence sharing- Whatever that actually means?

Interesting too is that the US is claiming the minerals deal will be signed today, in Saudi Arabia. If so, that will confirm a number of my suspicions about Trumps “sincerity” for peace between Ukraine and Russia, as well as the more probable reasoning for the temporary pause on intelligence sharing.

Zelenskyy will travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with the kingdom’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman.

Regarding, the lifting of intelligence

“Well, we just about have,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One when asked if he would consider resuming intelligence sharing. “We want to do anything we can to get Ukraine serious about getting something done,” he added.

“I think they will sign the minerals deal,” Trump said when asked about progress on the controversial agreement. “I want them to want peace.”

Some are saying Russia will be in Saudi Arabia today.. I don’t think so?

Additional link

Saudi Arabia is to host talks on Tuesday between the United States and Ukraine in a new diplomatic push–

The talks will take place in Jeddah, not Riyadh.

**Zakharova: Russia, US talks in Saudi Arabia not planned for this week

A new round of talks between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia is not planned for this week, and no relevant information has been received from the American side, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, Report informs via TASS.

Earlier, CNN noted, citing sources, that a new meeting between Russia and the US may take place in Saudi Arabia this week.

“It is not planned,” the diplomat said, answering a relevant question. “Moreover, no information has been received from the American side.”

CNN reports from sources about a meeting taking place, but, Russia seems to have no information regarding this meeting

Allies will not appease Donald Trump for ever-

Last paragraph:

European leaders are trying to accommodate Mr Trump—for now. A handful of populist leaders share his views. A larger group is betting that he will become distracted and find other targets. Some hope to wait him out. But the moment that Mr Trump convinces allies that their favoured world order is dead, their incentives will reverse. With nothing to lose, even friendly European governments will try to deceive, resist and hedge against a hostile America. Already, influential voices in Brussels, Berlin and other capitals murmur that Europe should draw closer to China.

Shifting gears : US hostility towards China is clear- Playing Russia off against China?

For example, the US looked to remove the word “sanctions” from the proposal and replace language on Russia’s “ability to maintain its war” with “earn revenue.” This was in addition to changes pushed by the US to explicitly name China in the text and call them out for maritime aggression, particularly in the South China Sea.

More on the claimed suspension of intel sharing between Ukraine and US

The United States has temporarily suspended satellite imagery services to Ukraine, a fresh blow to Kyiv from the Trump administration, which has frozen weapons shipments and intelligence sharing.

Which may or may not already be reinstated, if it’s suspension actually made a difference?

“Each customer makes their own decisions on how they use and share that data,” said Gia DeHart, a spokesperson for Maxar Intelligence’s U.S. government business. “We take our contractual commitments very seriously, and there is no change to other Maxar customer programs.”

Coincidentally, January 9, 2025 Maxar Awarded $14+M Contract by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence for Multi-Year Access to Maxar Geospatial Platform Pro

Maxar Intelligence, a provider of secure, precise geospatial insights, today announced it was awarded a €13.6M ($14.4M) framework contract by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a four-year subscription to Maxar Geospatial Platform (MGP) Pro and associated geospatial products and solutions.

The Netherlands can easily provide intelligence via their Maxar agreement to Ukraine

Six of one, half a dozen of the other, as the saying goes.

Lastly, Russia’s coexistence with West to depend on its readiness to recognize mistakes — Lavrov

“I believe the main lesson is clear: in matters crucial to our country’s survival, we must rely solely on ourselves and on the trusted friends who stood by us in our time of need,” he remarked. “Regarding our coexistence with our Western neighbors, much will hinge on their actions and their readiness to recognize and amend the errors they have made, including their persistent desire to achieve a strategic defeat for our nation.”

Lavrov emphasized that the past three years have marked a “moment of truth.” Following the initiation of the special military operation to protect the people of Donbass and Novorossiya, the collective West revealed its true nature. He remarked, “The ostensible rule of law and basic standards of decency have been cast aside. The so-called European values – such as the inviolability of property, the presumption of innocence, freedom of speech and movement, and access to information – have dissipated like smoke.”

He continued, “Those who once lectured everyone on how to live, who proclaimed themselves champions of democracy and human rights, hastily rallied behind the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev without a moment’s hesitation.”

According to the Russian foreign minister, the world has witnessed the hegemonic instincts driving the ultra-liberal ruling elites of the West. “The predatory, colonial habits of the former colonial powers of the EU and Britain, along with their inherent vices – arrogance, deceitfulness, and a lack of order in business conduct – persist. De facto, a new global ‘divide’ has emerged: on one side is the Western minority, while on the other is the global majority,” he stated. “This majority includes all those countries, as well as individuals of good will within the West itself, who advocate for the establishment of a multipolar world based on a balance of interests.”

Operation Timber Sycamore

penny2 — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:38:37 +0000

Timber Sycamore. Names for covert ops are chosen with intention. Symbolically speaking- Timber represents wood or wooden beams- Sycamore in Greek represents something like fig/mulberry. In Celtic mythology, the sycamore was associated with the world tree, a sacred tree that connects heaven, earth, and the underworld.

This piece is from 8 years ago. Link via Archive.ph

It’s a good bit of background- Showing the covert cooperation between some of the GCC nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan alongside the US intelligence going back decades

Jan. 23, 2016

WASHINGTON — When President Obama secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to begin arming Syria’s embattled rebels in 2013, the spy agency knew it would have a willing partner to help pay for the covert operation. It was the same partner the C.I.A. has relied on for decades for money and discretion in far-off conflicts: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Since then, the C.I.A. and its Saudi counterpart have maintained an unusual arrangement for the rebel-training mission, which the Americans have code-named Timber Sycamore. Under the deal, current and former administration officials said, the Saudis contribute both weapons and large sums of money, and the C.I.A takes the lead in training the rebels on AK-47 assault rifles and tank-destroying missiles.

The support for the Syrian rebels is only the latest chapter in the decades long relationship between the spy services of Saudi Arabia and the United States, an alliance that has endured through the Iran-contra scandal, support for the mujahedeen against the Soviets in Afghanistan and proxy fights in Africa. Sometimes, as in Syria, the two countries have worked in concert. In others, Saudi Arabia has simply written checks underwriting American covert activities.
The joint arming and training program, which other Middle East nations contribute money to, continues as America’s relations with Saudi Arabia — and the kingdom’s place in the region — are in flux. The old ties of cheap oil and geopolitics that have long bound the countries together have loosened as America’s dependence on foreign oil declines and the Obama administration tiptoes toward a diplomatic rapprochement with Iran.

And yet the alliance persists, kept afloat on a sea of Saudi money and a recognition of mutual self-interest. In addition to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil reserves and role as the spiritual anchor of the Sunni Muslim world, the long intelligence relationship helps explain why the United States has been reluctant to openly criticize Saudi Arabia for its human rights abuses, its treatment of women and its support for the extreme strain of Islam, Wahhabism, that has inspired many of the very terrorist groups the United States is fighting. The Obama administration did not publicly condemn Saudi Arabia’s beheading this month of a dissident Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who had challenged the royal family.

Secrets of the Kingdom

Although the Saudis have been public about their help arming rebel groups in Syria, the extent of their partnership with the C.I.A.’s covert action campaign and their direct financial support had not been disclosed. Details were pieced together in interviews with a half-dozen current and former American officials and sources from several Persian Gulf countries. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the program.
From the moment the C.I.A. operation was started, Saudi money supported it.
“They understand that they have to have us, and we understand that we have to have them,” said Mike Rogers, the former Republican congressman from Michigan who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when the C.I.A. operation began. Mr. Rogers declined to discuss details of the classified program.
American officials have not disclosed the amount of the Saudi contribution, which is by far the largest from another nation to the program to arm the rebels against President Bashar al-Assad’s military. But estimates have put the total cost of the arming and training effort at several billion dollars.
The White House has embraced the covert financing from Saudi Arabia — and from Qatar, Jordan and Turkey — at a time when Mr. Obama has pushed gulf nations to take a greater security role in the region.
Spokesmen for both the C.I.A. and the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment. When Mr. Obama signed off on arming the rebels in the spring of 2013, it was partly to try to gain control of the apparent free-for-all in the region. The Qataris and the Saudis had been funneling weapons into Syria for more than a year. The Qataris had even smuggled in shipments of Chinese-made FN-6 shoulder-fired missiles over the border from Turkey.

The Saudi efforts were led by the flamboyant Prince Bandar bin Sultan, at the time the intelligence chief, who directed Saudi spies to buy thousands of AK-47s and millions of rounds of ammunition in Eastern Europe for the Syrian rebels. The C.I.A. helped arrange some of the arms purchases for the Saudis, including a large deal in Croatia in 2012.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan and the mass purchases of arms from Eastern Europe- Information at my former site on this topic!

By the summer of 2012, a freewheeling feel had taken hold along Turkey’s border with Syria as the gulf nations funneled cash and weapons to rebel groups — even some that American officials were concerned had ties to radical groups like Al Qaeda.
The C.I.A. was mostly on the sidelines (mostly on the sidelines?) during this period, authorized by the White House under the Timber Sycamore training program to deliver nonlethal aid to the rebels but not weapons. In late 2012, according to two former senior American officials, David H. Petraeus, then the C.I.A. director, delivered a stern lecture to intelligence officials of several gulf nations at a meeting near the Dead Sea in Jordan. He chastised them for sending arms into Syria without coordinating with one another or with C.I.A. officers in Jordan and Turkey.(so not on the sidelines!)

Months later, Mr. Obama gave his approval for the C.I.A. to begin directly arming and training the rebels from a base in Jordan, amending the Timber Sycamore program to allow lethal assistance. Under the new arrangement, the C.I.A. took the lead in training, while Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency, the General Intelligence Directorate, provided money and weapons, including TOW anti-tank missiles.
The Qataris have also helped finance the training and allowed a Qatari base to be used as an additional training location. But American officials said Saudi Arabia was by far the largest contributor to the operation.

While the Obama administration saw this coalition as a selling point in Congress, some, including Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, raised questions about why the C.I.A. needed Saudi money for the operation, according to one former American official. Mr. Wyden declined to be interviewed, but his office released a statement calling for more transparency. “Senior officials have said publicly that the U.S. is trying to build up the battlefield capabilities of the anti-Assad opposition, but they haven’t provided the public with details about how this is being done, which U.S. agencies are involved, or which foreign partners those agencies are working with,” the statement said.
When relations among the countries involved in the training program are strained, it often falls to the United States to broker solutions. As the host, Jordan expects regular payments from the Saudis and the Americans. When the Saudis pay late, according to a former senior intelligence official, the Jordanians complain to C.I.A. officials.
While the Saudis have financed previous C.I.A. missions with no strings attached, the money for Syria comes with expectations, current and former officials said. “They want a seat at the table, and a say in what the agenda of the table is going to be,” said Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. analyst and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The C.I.A. training program is separate from another program to arm Syrian rebels, one the Pentagon ran that has since ended. That program was designed to train rebels to combat Islamic State fighters in Syria, unlike the C.I.A.’s program, which focuses on rebel groups fighting the Syrian military.

As the US funds and trains every side of the conflict.

While the intelligence alliance is central to the Syria fight and has been important in the war against Al Qaeda, a constant irritant in American-Saudi relations is just how much Saudi citizens continue to support terrorist groups, analysts said.

“The more that the argument becomes, ‘We need them as a counterterrorism partner,’ the less persuasive it is,” said William McCants, a former State Department counterterrorism adviser and the author of a book on the Islamic State. “If this is purely a conversation about counterterrorism cooperation, and if the Saudis are a big part of the problem in creating terrorism in the first place, then how persuasive of an argument is it?”

In the near term, the alliance remains solid, strengthened by a bond between spy masters. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi interior minister who took over the effort to arm the Syrian rebels from Prince Bandar, has known the C.I.A. director, John O. Brennan, from the time Mr. Brennan was the agency’s Riyadh station chief in the 1990s. Former colleagues say the two men remain close, and Prince Mohammed has won friends in Washington with his aggressive moves to dismantle terrorist groups like Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The job Mr. Brennan once held in Riyadh is, more than the ambassador’s, the true locus of American power in the kingdom. Former diplomats recall that the most important discussions always flowed through the C.I.A. station chief.

Current and former intelligence officials say there is a benefit to this communication channel: The Saudis are far more responsive to American criticism when it is done in private, and this secret channel has done more to steer Saudi behavior toward America’s interests than any public chastising could have.
The roots of the relationship run deep. In the late 1970s, the Saudis organized what was known as the “Safari Club” — a coalition of nations including Morocco, Egypt and France — that ran covert operations around Africa at a time when Congress had clipped the C.I.A.’s wings over years of abuses.

The Big Four in Saudi Arabia’s Government

Brief background information on the most powerful figures in the kingdom, and how they stand in the sometimes complicated order of succession.
“And so the kingdom, with these countries, helped in some way, I believe, to keep the world safe at a time when the United States was not able to do that,” Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former head of Saudi intelligence, recalled in a speech at Georgetown University in 2002.
In the 1980s, the Saudis helped finance C.I.A. operations in Angola, where the United States backed rebels against the Soviet-allied government. While the Saudis were staunchly anticommunist, Riyadh’s primary incentive seemed to be to solidify its C.I.A. ties. “They were buying good will,” recalled one former senior intelligence officer who was involved in the operation.

In perhaps the most consequential episode, the Saudis helped arm the mujahedeen rebels to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. The United States committed hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the mission, and the Saudis matched it, dollar for dollar.

The money flowed through a C.I.A.-run Swiss bank account. In the book “Charlie Wilson’s War,” the journalist George Crile III describes how the C.I.A. arranged for the account to earn no interest, in keeping with the Islamic ban on usury.

In 1984, when the Reagan administration sought help with its secret plan to sell arms to Iran to finance the contra rebels in Nicaragua, Robert C. McFarlane, the national security adviser, met with Prince Bandar, who was the Saudi ambassador to Washington at the time. The White House made it clear that the Saudis would “gain a considerable amount of favor” by cooperating, Mr. McFarlane later recalled.
Prince Bandar pledged $1 million per month to help fund the contras, in recognition of the administration’s past support to the Saudis. The contributions continued after Congress cut off funding to the contras. By the end, the Saudis had contributed $32 million, paid through a Cayman Islands bank account.
When the Iran-contra scandal broke, and questions arose about the Saudi role, the kingdom kept its secrets. Prince Bandar refused to cooperate with the investigation led by Lawrence E. Walsh, the independent counsel.
In a letter, the prince declined to testify, explaining that his country’s “confidences and commitments, like our friendship, are given not just for the moment but the long run.”

Death of petrodollar is a Biden legacy

penny2 — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 20:08:18 +0000

Posted on June 14, 2024 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Indian Punchline

I like the inclusion of information regarding the assumed death of Jamal Kashoggi- Admittedly it’s been years since I’ve thought about this incident. It doesn’t seem to me that his body was ever found, so who among us really knows if he died or simply disappeared? Though, I do believe he is dead.

At that time the perception managing media was pushing him as some kind of freedom loving human rights activist. Whatever floats your boat I guess? He was a CIA asset, gun runner and smuggler of who knows what else. At my censored site there’s information a plenty on him and the alleged killing

The Deep State should have been alert five years ago when Candidate Joe Biden announced that he, if elected as president, was determined to make the Saudi rulers “pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are.”

Biden was blunt to the point of being brutal about the Saudi royal family, saying there was “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia” under King Salman’s rule.

But, instead, the Deep State felt delighted that Biden was just the man to succeed Donald Trump and reverse the Trump-era practice of forgiving Saudi human rights violations in order to preserve jobs in the American arms industry.

Biden probably knew by then that the American intelligence had concluded about the role of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and the de facto leader of the country, in the killing of the dissident-journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a ‘strategic asset’ of the CIA for navigating the next Saudi succession and the ensuing regime change to a happy ending. Khashoggi’s decapitation crippled Washington’s game plan to install a pliable ruler in Riyadh.

Today, all that is history. But unlike the Bourbons, the Saudi royals never forget or forgive. They also have infinite patience and their own concept of time and space. And last Sunday, June 9, they struck.

In great royal style, last Sunday, Riyadh simply let the 50-year-old petrodollar agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia to expire.

To recap, the term “petrodollar” refers to the US dollar’s pivotal role as the currency used for crude oil transactions on the world market per the US-Saudi deal dating back to 1974 shortly after the US went off the gold standard.

In the history of global finance, few agreements have wielded as many benefits as the petrodollar pact did for the US economy. At its core, the agreement stipulated that Saudi Arabia would price its oil exports exclusively in US dollars and invest its surplus oil revenues in US Treasury bonds — and, in a quid pro quo, the US would provide military support and protection to the kingdom.

The ‘win-win’ deal ensured that the US gained a stable source of oil and a captive market for its debt, while Saudi Arabia secured its economic and overall security. In turn, the denomination of oil in dollar elevated the dollar’s status as the world’s ‘reserve currency’.

Since then, the global demand for dollars to purchase oil has helped to keep the currency strong, not only made imports relatively cheap for American consumers but in systemic terms, the influx of foreign capital into US Treasury bonds supported low interest rates and a robust bond market.

Please read entirely at link- I’m going to include only a few more paragraphs of interest

There is no question that Saudi Arabia has a roadmap worked out. Four days before the expiration of the oil-for-security deal, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia has joined a China-dominated central bank digital currency cross-border trial, “in what could be another step towards less of the world’s oil trade being done in U.S. dollars.”

The announcement on June 4 came from the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements [BIS], an international financial institution owned by member central banks. It means that Saudi central bank has become a “full participant” of Project mBridge, a collaboration launched in 2021 between the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

Now, add to this Russia’s master plan to create a new BRICS payments system bypassing the dollar altogether.

Thus, the expiration of the US-Saudi deal last weekend is emblematic of a cascading challenge from various quarters to the dollar’s pre-eminence as ‘reserve currency.’ In particular, the end is nearing for the unfettered freedom America enjoyed to print dollar currency at will and living it up far beyond its means and imposing the US’ global hegemony.

Still more at the India Punchline link

Saudi Arabia’s petro-dollar and a Global financial paradigm shift??

penny2 — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 22:30:01 +0000

Very little news coverage on this financial paradigm shift. Doesn’t mean it’s not accurate or true. Might just mean that the powers that shouldn’t be- The US led NATO, bankers and big global corporations don’t want this known by a larger audience.

Here are some interesting links to read and consider:

Link

The crucial decision to not renew the contract enables Saudi Arabia to sell oil and other goods in multiple currencies, including the Chinese RMB, Euros, Yen, and Yuan, instead of exclusively in US dollars. Additionally, the potential use of digital currencies like Bitcoin may also be considered

Originally signed on 8 June 1974, the deal established two joint commissions, one based on economic cooperation and the other on Saudi Arabia’s military needs. At the time, it was said that it heralded an era of close cooperation between the two countries, says Katja Hamilton of BizCommunity.

This latest development signifies a major shift away from the petrodollar system established in 1972, when the US decoupled its currency from gold, and is anticipated to hasten the global shift away from the US dollar.

Another interesting read this one from Bloomberg

The Gulf is flexing petrodollar power and learning its limits

This article is about all the Gulf nations, Saudi Arabia included.

So they’re building up portfolios that have made them major forces on the global investment scene, with holdings that include American tech companies, English football clubs, Egyptian real estate, African mines and Turkish bank deposits. Four of the world’s top 10 sovereign wealth funds are from the region, those belonging to Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Gulf is close to becoming the only region with three separate wealth funds exceeding $1 trillion each. Asset managers, private equity partners and venture capitalists from New York, Silicon Valley and London pack the business-class cabins of Emirates and Etihad Airways A380s to pitch their services and ideas.

Money isn’t just an economic tool; it’s also a political weapon. The Gulf nations are using their petrodollar wealth to wield influence on the world stage—placing investments to further strategic goals. Turning hydrocarbons into geopolitical muscle isn’t new: The oil embargo in 1973, when Arab states stopped selling oil to countries supporting Israel, leading to a fourfold increase in the price of crude, is only the most famous example.

The Gulf nations’ decisions ripple around the globe. Their investments can affect the cost of borrowing for the US, their key security partner. Their cash can provide an alternative to China’s financing in an increasingly polarized world. And their aid and other support can help stabilize troubled economies and make or break International Monetary Fund bailouts.

In short, the Gulf nations are playing a multipronged game—diversifying their investments while also securing their access to resources. But the payments they receive from oil and gas are too large to be replaced with dividends from sovereign wealth funds, even with their massive size, no matter the investment strategy.

One wonders if Saudi Arabia needs to be tied to the US dollar any longer. Do the other Gulf nations need to be? As global economics diversify, are the Gulf nations looking to diversify away from US dollar dominance?

Blinken’s Window Dressing Tour of Arab Capitals

penny2 — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 19:03:20 +0000

I’m getting the impression the US is managing this war on Israel’s behalf. Some of the quotes from Blinken leave one with that impression.

Headline- Blinken Urges Israel to Think of Postwar Role

That’s not a call to ceasefire. Or a call to reduce civilian casualties. That’s encouraging Israel to make plans for the land they’ve cleansed of people

Blinken repeated that Israel has the right to defend itself in the wake of Hamas’s deadly attack on Oct. 7. But he also sought to paint a picture of a secure future for Israel, raising the prospect of US-backed regional integration for Israel and Arab nations.

There are Israelis asking for ceasefire- But under Netanyahu’s leadership the ethnic cleansing continues

Outside the hotel in Tel Aviv where Blinken was holding his meetings, Israeli protesters held up placards, banged drums and called for a cease-fire that might enable the release of more hostages — with Israel’s ongoing military operations making it more likely that hostages will be killed inadvertently before they’re freed.

“Bring them home now!” the crowd chanted.

As stated previously, Israel doesn’t care if the hostages come home alive. The leadership will blame Hamas and give themselves a free pass.

IndianPunchline
The pattern of Israeli behaviour needs to be understood from different angles. This is an incredibly complicated matrix. First and foremost, the Israeli operation in Gaza so far has been a failure. It turned the world opinion, especially in the Global South, heavily against Israel — South Africa’s petition to the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Gaza being the most telling evidence of it — while Israeli military came a cropper in terms of its agenda to decimate Hamas.
Tel Aviv has reached none of its stated goals in the Gaza war, which are annihilation of Hamas or disarming of Hamas and release of captives held by Palestinians in Gaza. That brings the security and military establishment in Tel Aviv, whose reputation has been seriously dented following the October 7 attack, under immense pressure. On the other hand, there has been a cover-up of the heavy casualty suffered by Israeli troops in the Gaza operation. The Kerman terrorist attack and the killing of Saleh al-Arouri actually betray a high level of frustration.

In political terms, there is a convergence between the security and military establishment and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (whose political future hangs by a thread) and the ultra-rightist fascist forces aligned with him, whose interests lie in an extended war.

The only external force capable of pressuring Israel is of course the US administration. But it is too much to expect President Biden to draw the ‘red line’ to Israel — that is, even assuming that he has the political will to do so — given the Israel Lobby’s control of the Congress and its seamless capacity for making or destroying the careers of US politicians.

Washington has not changed the intensity of Israeli military operation. On the other hand, the US has shipped to Israel 10,000 tons of arms to Israel in the recent period alone. In fact, it cannot be a coincidence that every single Blinken visit to the region since October 7 has witnessed a particularly brutal Israeli attack to up the ante. In effect, the US is broadly in support of the Israeli policy and a commitment to the destruction of Hamas, in particular.

Therefore, Biden’s interest narrows down to prevent the war from spreading in the region lest direct American military intervention becomes necessary. The US rhetoric and diplomatic posturing largely aims at damage control in Washington’s relations with its erstwhile allies in the region. Quintessentially, Blinken’s mission comes down cheap window dressing — viz., to bringing the regional states to the same page that Israel is facing an existential crisis. But it does not take into account that the region has changed radically.

Read the rest at the link provided

Emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Gaza kicks off in Saudi capital

penny2 — Sat, 11 Nov 2023 13:09:08 +0000

An emergency joint Arab-Islamic summit kicked off on Saturday in the Saudi capital Riyadh to discuss the “dangerous developments” taking place in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories.

According to official Saudi media, leaders and representatives of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are participating in the summit which coincides with the ongoing Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip for the 36th day.

Before the start of the summit, foreign ministers of the Arab and Islamic countries held a preparatory meeting for the summit in Riyadh, with the aim of “consensus on the draft final statement of the summit on the unified collective Arab and Islamic position,” according to Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency.

Early Saturday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that after consultations, a joint Arab-Islamic summit would be held on Saturday regarding developments in the Gaza Strip, instead of two summits.

It pointed out that Gaza and the Palestinian territories are “witnessing dangerous and unprecedented developments that require Arab and Islamic unity to confront them and contain their repercussions.”

I can’t recall this type of meeting taking place previously. Not saying it didn’t but given the known history of these nations and this area…. it’s a very interesting development

Iranian Leader in Saudi Arabia

Israel-Hamas war: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrives in Saudi Arabia to attend OIC Summit

President Assad Heads to Saudi Arabia

President Bashar al-Assad visits on Friday the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in the emergency Arab summit.

The summit, which will be held on Saturday, will discuss the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, and the Israeli aggression on Gaza strip that claims the lives of hundreds of martyrs and wounding others and creates an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Erdogan in Riyadh

Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss situation in Gaza Strip, expected to hold bilateral meetings with participating leaders

Will Assad and Erdogan meet in a potential fence mending/reconcilliation meeting?