Wednesday 24 May 2017 - 10:10
Story Code : 262117
Trump, Saudis plan to kit out 'Arab NATO' with massive new arms deal
Donald Trump received a warm greeting when he arrived inRiyadh onSaturday forhis first official foreign visit, the highlight ofwhich was the signing ofa massive arms deal worth upwards of $110 billion.
In spite ofTrump's anti-Saudi and anti-Muslim rhetoric inthe past, the two countries are set toenjoy better relations thanexisted underthe Obama administration because they have complementary economic and military objectives, Theodore Karasik, a senior advisor atGulf State Analytics, told Radio Sputnik.
"They complement each other inthe sense that the America First program is abouthow the US can rejigger its economy, shrink government and be able toproduce jobs forAmerican citizens who elected President Trump todo this duty."
"On the Saudi side ofthe house, the Vision 2030 is a program meant totransform the Saudi economy intoa more 'postmodern age' that will provide jobs forSaudi youth. Given the youth bubble inSaudi Arabia, these youths need tohave jobs inthe nearto medium term, so there's the symbiosis betweenthese two countries."
Trump was given a warm welcome bySaudiKing Salman, who greeted the US President when he disembarked fromthe presidential plane. The Saudi government hailed a meeting betweenTrump and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asa "historical turning point" inbilateral relations, because the two stated their shared opposition toIran.
"There's no doubt that the Saudis and their allies have been upset withthe US forthe pasteight years underthe former President Barack Obama. The Saudis were waiting fora new President tobe elected inthe US inorder toreshape the relationship betweenWashington and Riyadh."
During his trip, Trump signed nearly $110 billion worth ofweapons deals withSaudi Arabia, which could be worth asmuch as $350 billion overthe next ten years. Karasik says that the agreement is part ofa US strategy togive more "punch" toArab militaries that would allow the US toconcentrate onworking withother countries totry and settle the wars inSyria, Yemen and Libya.
"What the Yemen war really signifies is that the Saudi-led coalition wants tobecome a larger security organization and this is where we have talked aboutan Arab NATO and also the formation ofthe Islamic military alliance tofight terrorism."
"The point here is these weapons systems that are sold toSaudi are part ofthis emerging architecture inthe region so that these countries can do the heavy lifting themselves throughorganizing training and equipping so that they're able tofight inthe future."
"What you see now is the opening days ofyears ofhow toorganize, train and equip yourself appropriately and not have torely onother powers fordefense," Karasik said.
Although there are several wars ongoing inthe Middle East, many regional players are "grouping together" inan effort tofind solutions tothe conflicts.
"The wars inSyria, Yemen and inLibya may very well be overin a year, if Arab states and their allies are able toagree onhow best tomove forward and allow citizens ofthese countries todecide the outcome themselves."
"You see now a real push inAbu Dhabi, Moscow, Washington and other capitals totry tocome tosome kind ofbalanced agreement inthe region where there is burden-sharing. The creation ofsafe zones forexample is an ongoing process betweenRussia and the US despitethe disruption inAmerican society because ofthe supposed ties betweenthe Trump administration and Russia."
"So, there's a lot inplay right now, I think that it's going tolook more complicated inthe short-term butthere are powers-that-be inthe region and extra-regional powers that are working hard publicly butalso behindthe scenes totry tosettle these issues ina timely manner, perhaps bythe end ofthe year."
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