U.S.-Saudi ties have been strained for several reasons in recent months. In addition to remarks President Obama made in a recent interview in which he expressed his frustration with Gulf states for being “free riders,” U.S. domestic politics have also been an issue. President Obama is reportedly weighing the issue of whether or not he will declassify 28 pages from the 9/11 Commission Report that may implicate some Saudi officials in the 2001 attacks, and the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that would allow Saudi Arabia to be sued by family members of victims of those attacks. The Obama administration has argued against the bill, saying it could endanger Americans abroad, and Saudi Arabia has threatened to sell off potentially destabilizing sums of U.S. currency should it go through. The Senate is also considering a separate bill that would condition military aid to Saudi Arabia on account of the high civilian death toll in the Saudi intervention in Yemen.
“The end result is several ironies in the meeting between President Obama, the Saudis, and the other GCC states. First, such meetings almost inevitably announce improved cooperation in areas like missile defense and common resolve, and downplay serious issues. Unlike previous meetings, however, Obama is to some extent a lame duck President, and one clearly operating without the support of a Congress that Saudi Arabia sees as uncertain and to some degree hostile. In a year where every major security issue involves critical uncertainties, this U.S. President brings little clear leverage to the negotiations. His success will consist largely of restoring the image of cooperation without having an impact on the substance. Second, the Saudi royal family is all too familiar with the constant outside obsession with Royal politics and succession issues. This time, however, the U.S. President’s succession issues involve three main populist candidates whose foreign and security policies are almost all rhetoric and no clear substance. If the U.S. delegation is worried about future Saudi leadership, imagine how the Saudi leaders feel about the United States! Third, and perhaps most ironic of all -- regardless of what the Saudi Arabia can or cannot say publicly -- the only competent U.S. Presidential candidate that serves the common Saudi and U.S. interests, and now now seems to have a serious chance of winning, is a woman.”
President Obama and King Salman of Saudi Arabia spent more than two hours in a closed-door meeting that American officials said was cordial but underscored deep differences with the kingdom over Iran, human rights and the best way to fight terror. – New York Times
Eli Lake writes: This is the backdrop of Obama's visit Wednesday to Riyadh. But the U.S.-Saudi relationship only appears to be on the rocks. Indeed, despite harsh words about how Saudi Arabia is politically organized and how the Iran agreement enhances its security, the president is doubling down on a partnership that has endured since the 1930s. He has deepened military and intelligence ties with the kingdom since he came into office in 2009. – Bloomberg View
Arthur Herman writes: Obama’s real Saudi problem is himself. By stiff-arming allies Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel while trying to embrace their arch-foe Iran as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, he has turned the Middle East inside out — while also devastating America’s oil and gas patch, the one bright spot on this administration’s dismal economic record. – National Review Online