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YANK-JACOBS: President Barack Obama visits Saudi Arabia, must still improve relations with country

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest holder of known oil reserves, first formed a relationship with the United States in 1933, when an oil concession formed between Standard Oil Company of California (now Chevron) and the Saudi government created the Arabian American Oil Company.

An important meeting between U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Saudi King Abdul Aziz ibn-Saud in 1945 further solidified the relationship. The two “got along famously,” according to William Eddy, the first U.S. minister to Saudi Arabia.

Eddy later wrote of the king’s firm belief that a symbiotic relationship between the two countries was important. As quoted by Eddy, King Ibn-Saud once said, “Allah gave Arabia the true faith and gave the Western world the iron,” by which he meant technical capacities. This belief set the stage for one of the United States’ most important strategic partnerships in the Middle East over the subsequent seven decades.

President Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia for the second time in his presidency on Wednesday, amid fears by many that he has put the historic relationship in grave danger. These fears were not quelled by the fact that the Saudi Arabian king did not greet Obama at the King Khalid International Airport.

Since Obama concluded a deal with Iran — one that limits Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for the release of sanctions, reopening Iran to the global economy — many have seen distance growing between Riyadh and Washington.

Aside from the perceived shift toward Tehran, the Saudi’s arch nemesis, the collapse of world oil prices, largely as a result of the U.S. shale boom, has caused a $98 billion budget deficit in 2015 — equivalent to 15 percent of GDP.

The drop in global oil prices made the United States less dependent on Saudi oil supply to stabilize the world market. Some think this freed Obama to speak more liberally about the repressive regime in Riyadh.

In a much-discussed interview with The Atlantic, Obama obliquely chided the kingdom for being “free riders.” This prompted a firm response from Prince Turki al-Faisal of the royal family, who, needless to say, was unpleased with Obama’s criticism.

And as if the apparent pivot toward Iran and criticism of the regime weren’t enough, Congress has taken a bill into consideration that would open up members of the Saudi government to lawsuits by U.S. citizens over their potential involvement in 9/11.

This prompted a harsh response from the Saudis, who threatened to sell off an approximate $750 billion of U.S. assets if the bill becomes law.

The suspicion of their involvement stems from 28 classified pages of the 9/11 Commission report that former Sen. Bob Graham, chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, suggests implicate Saudi officials.

We should act with caution in the near future so as to not rupture these relations as some have suggested, and recapitulate ourselves to regaining influence in Saudi affairs.

What critics of the relationship fail to account for is the fact that alliances may vary in nature. The United States and Great Britain, for instance, share the same values and worldview, which is what constitutes the “special relationship.” We will never share this level of harmony in worldview with many of our most important strategic allies, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t cooperate in areas of commonality and influence them when possible.

Over the course of the 70 years following FDR’s famed meeting with King Ibn-Saud, there have been divergent interests between the two states. We have sparred over the issue of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, faced pressure from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ price shocks in the 1970s and have long considered the kingdom a humanitarian disaster.

Nonetheless, we have been able to wield enough influence to benefit our interests in the region and globally. For instance, our collaboration in aiding Mujahideen groups in Afghanistan was an important factor in draining the resources of the Soviet Union. Additionally, consider that Saudi collaboration during the first Gulf War was crucial to our quick victory.

We must continue to wield influence in order to ensure we have a strong institutional ally in the Middle East. The Kurds and other non-state armed groups are not sufficient allies to achieve our ends in the region.

Russia’s first foray into the region since the split of the Soviet Union was a successful and limited campaign to strengthen Bashar al-Assad’s position and expand Tehran’s influence. In the face of growing Iranian and Russian influence, Saudi friendship will continue to prove consequential to achieving our ends in the region.

Before anything else, the most recent matters pertaining to Saudi involvement in 9/11 must be cleared up. To ensure the security of this relationship, the passage of the bill allowing U.S. citizens to sue the Saudi government must be stopped.

In order to stop this while still respecting the families of the victims, the Obama administration should release the 28 pages pertaining to alleged Saudi involvement in 9/11. The release of the pages is harmless to the relationship, since the Saudi’s own Prince Bandar bin Sultan once urged it.

Once this storm is weathered, Obama’s successor must make clear to the Saudis that we will stand by them, even as we express our discontent with way their promulgation of extremism fuels further instability.

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