prince mohammed bin salman's u.s. visit · prince mohammed bin salman and president barack...
TRANSCRIPT
P R I N C E
A S A P R A C A N A LY S I SU.S. VISITU.S. VISIT
MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN'S
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THE AGENDAON
• Vision 2030• Diversification and Privatization• Attracting American Investors
• Combatting ISIS• Sharing Intelligence• Muslim Coalition
• Syria• Yemen• Iran
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A Prince's Outreach
Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and President Barack Obama in Riyadh, April 2016.
Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman is set to make another visit to
the United States, where he is reportedly meeting with officials in Washington DC, then
heading over to New York and Los Angeles to meet with investors and corporate figures.
The visit comes in the middle of a strain in the Saudi-U.S. relationship, a chaotic war in
Yemen, Iranian intervention and a prolonged slump in oil prices. The prince has previously
met with President Obama in the White House on May 2015, and again on April 2016
when Obama was in Riyadh for the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit.
Over the past few months, Saudi Arabia has been subject to a relentless media campaign
that aims to undermine its public image both locally and internationally. Central to this
campaign is a sustained attempt to link the Kingdom to the events of 911/, regularly
promoting the passing of a bill that will allow the families of victims to sue the Saudi
government for damages, citing the now infamous 28 redacted pages from the 911/
commission report as substantial evidence. A charge that Riyadh has strongly denied, it
called for and encouraged the release of the 28 pages ever since 2001. In a recent interview
for Al-Arabiya, CIA chief John Brennan said: “I think the 28 pages will be published and
I support their publication and everyone will see the evidence that the Saudi government
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had nothing to do with it, It was found later, according to the results of the report, that there
was no link between the Saudi government as a state or as an institution or even senior Saudi
officials to the Sept. 11 attacks.”
Saudi Arabia has publicly expressed its frustration with the Obama administration with
regards to American policy in Syria and Iraq. The Saudis feel that America is creating a
vacuum in the region that is being filled by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is now publicly
admitting to the presence of general Qassem Suleimani on sovereign Arab land, who currently
leads Iraqi militia fighters known as the “Popular Mobilization Forces”. These militias were
condemned by the coalition of Arab tribes in Iraq for its overt sectarianism and unabashed
use of force. With videos surfacing on social media of Iraqi militia fighters torturing and
maiming civilians escaping ISIS in cities like Tikrit and Fallujah, terror financiers have been
compelled to capitalize on this display of sectarianism to raise funds under the questionable
umbrella of “aiding our persecuted Sunni brothers and sisters in Fallujah”.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter with Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Feb. 11, 2016
On Security
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The Saudi Ministry of Interior recently warned its citizens against donating money to
unlicensed groups or individuals and announced that it will enforce the terror financing
law as it did in past events. Regarding Syria, the Saudis feel that the Geneva talks
must proceed in order to produce a tangible outcome that will end the 5-year conflict.
Meanwhile, the Iranians and the Russians continue their unconditional support for
the Assad regime, which is now responsible for more than 400.000 deaths, 12 million
displaced, and many imprisoned, starved, tortured, barrel bombed or chemically
attacked.
As for Yemen, peace talks sponsored by the United Nations in Kuwait are underway,
as the Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized Yemeni government are still
negotiating a political settlement to the Yemeni crisis. Meanwhile, the Arab coalition
set its sights on AQAP, and considered fighting the group as a priority, pounding their
stronghold Al-Mukalla and conducting special ops by Saudi and UAE forces resulting
in the killing of as much as 800 AQAP members in the last 3 months of the year-long
war.
The Saudi led Arab Coalition was also recently removed from a UN secretariat report
on violating Children's rights. After much controversy, Saudi Ambassador to the United
Nations Abdullah al-Mouallimi said the removal was “irreversible and unconditional”.
On the agenda will likely be the common goal of defeating ISIS. Prince Mohammed
leads a 35 Muslim nation military coalition to defeat terrorism, with the young prince
describing terrorism as “a disease in the body of Islamic Nations”. He created a new
mandate that simply concludes: “fighting terrorism in Islamic countries should be done
by Islamic countries.”
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Akhi Pillalamarri, writer for The National Interest, told SAPRAC that “the Deputy Crown
Prince will likely focus on specific issues, especially Yemen and Syria, but may also raise
larger concerns and questions about future American intentions regarding its role as a
firm security provider in the Gulf region, especially from threats emanating from Iran.”
He anticipated that the prince “will request that the US do more in Syria against both
ISIS and the Assad government, but this is more of a ritual than a process that is expected
to yield a change in US policy in Syria, which has been relatively constant over the past
few months. Nonetheless, both the US and Saudi Arabia are likely to agree to the need to
continue to fight and defeat ISIS.”
Despite many differences with the Obama administration, Saudi officials are keen on
cooperating with the current and upcoming administration to put an end to current
friction between the two countries. Prince Mohammed comes to Washington not only for
diplomacy but more importantly, for business.
Dr. Thomas Mattair, Executive Director of the Middle East Policy Council, told SAPRAC
that the prince “is a driving force behind much of the Kingdom’s domestic reform plans, its
assertive regional policies, and its defense planning. During his meetings in the USA, he
can rightly point out that the Kingdom’s economic reform plans – Saudi Vision 2030 and
the National Transformation Plan -- offer significant trade and investment opportunities
for American corporations, that the Kingdom and the United States have serious common
interests in shaping the outcomes of regional conflicts, and that the solid bilateral security
partnership is mutually beneficial. All of this provides an opportunity for the United States
to strengthen further this very important decades-old American-Saudi partnership.”
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On Economy
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The visit comes at a pivotal moment for the Saudi
economy, as it is headed for its most significant
transformation in recent history, including sweeping
financial reforms, privatization and diversification.
This transformation was outlined with the recently
announced Vision 2030, which aims to wean the
economy off of its dependency on oil. It includes an
IPO for Aramco (ranging from 1% to 5%), which is
poised to be the world's largest, as well as creating
a path towards a $2 trillion sovereign fund. The
IPO has been described as the “biggest fee event
in Wall Street history” by The Wall Street Journal.
Saudi Aramco is estimated to be worth as much
as all publicly traded oil companies in the world.
The company is reportedly already attracting
many American corporations and bankers to its
headquarters in Dhahran.
American companies historically enjoyed secure
access to the Saudi Arabian market. Saudi Aramco
was originally created by a merger of American
oil companies SoCal, Texaco, and Exxon, keeping
the door open to American businesses and
attracting corporations like General Electric, which
recently announced its own plans for Vision 2030,
partnering with multiple Saudi firms on digital
manufacturing, aviation, energy, marine industry,
oil and gas manufacturing, and gas turbines.
Fahad Nazer, senior political analyst at JTG, told
SAPRAC that the prince had previously “met
with several heads of American companies and in
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essence gave them a preview of what is now known as “Vision 2030.” “While Saudi economic
planners will encourage foreign investors from around the globe, the fact that Prince Mohammed
spoke to CEOs of American companies as early as he did suggests that the long record of success
of American companies in the kingdom has created a level of comfort and trust between Saudi
and American businesses that has helped sustain bilateral relations over the past seven decades.
That aspect of the relationship appears poised to not only continue but to expand.”
More recently, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (SPI) announced the largest ever investment
in Uber with a reported $3.5 billion. The investment exhibits the main goal of the SPI, which is
to facilitate non-oil related growth, and to help the economy diversify, which in turn leaves many
to speculate on where the SPI might invest next. Vision 2030 included plans for the tourism
industry, arts and museums, civil aviation, transportation and most importantly, technology. In
the future, the Saudi Public Investment Fund might make significant purchases in a wide array
of business ventures and capitals.
This visit is expected to mend any remaining strain between the two nations by promoting broader
regional cooperation and stronger bilateral relations. More importantly, it will attract American
investors to come to the Kingdom and contribute to the economy’s diversification, moving the
nation one step closer to Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s vision of a financially stable, socially
dynamic and economically robust Saudi Arabia.
DISCLAIMER:
THE ANALYSIS PREPARED BY SAPRAC IN THIS ARTICLE IS INDEPENDENT AND DOES NOT REFLECT THE VIEW ORPOSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SAUDI ARABIA.
< http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-qaeda-idUSKCN0XL0BM>
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-aramco-ipo-wall-streets-white-whale-1465464606>
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<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-security-idUSKBN0TX2PG20151215>
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Written by: Yousef Al-Naimi
Designed by: Mahmoud Megahed
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