The Saudi-American and American-Gulf summits in Jeddah concluded with major announcements, most significant of which was the US president’s acknowledgement that Washington committed a mistake in withdrawing from the region.
His visit was therefore, capped with returning Saudi-American ties back to their right path.
In Israel, the US president admitted to the withdrawal mistake and leaving behind a void. His most important meeting, however, took place in Jeddah with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the signing of 18 Saudi-American agreements.
The meeting was no doubt effective. The Americans, starting with the president, heard frank words from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, especially since preparing for the Saudi-American summit took a line time and took into account sensitive details.
The Saudi-American summit was a success on all levels, despite attempts by American media to undermine the meeting to serve a certain agenda, not the general good of American, Saudi, Gulf and Arab ties and the entire region.
I say success in spite of what happened after the US president’s speech from Jeddah about human rights and the Saudi official response and clear clarification over Crown Prince Mohammed’s response as well.
The Saudi side did good in quickly responding and clarifying what happened at the Saudi-American summit over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, especially since this case has often been used for extortion. Transparency was therefore very important and took place at the right and accurate time.
In his speech, President Biden spoke of several agreements, including military ones. He spoke of steps that guarantee countering sabotage operations by Iran and its groups. He spoke of agreements that secure Saudi-American ties for the coming decades.
This means the ties have returned to the right path and will need more time due to internal American reasons. The Jeddah summit has, however, laid the foundation for institutional work and more.
This will reflect on American-Arab Gulf ties, especially after Biden himself admitted to America’s mistake in withdrawing from the region and leaving the vacuum to the Russians and Chinese and destructive Iranian expansion.
This acknowledgement is validation of Saudi, Gulf and Arab criticism that the US withdrawal was wrong. It means that Biden himself criticized policies set by his predecessor Barack Obama.
Today, the region is faced with a new approach where Saudi-American and Gulf-American-Arab coordination is clearer. Everyone was told what they should to their face after long negotiations.
Today, under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the direct meticulous supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia succeeded in rectifying the course of Saudi-American relations and re-uniting Gulf Arab ranks so that they may have a united voice with the US and international community.
This success is not credited to Saudi Arabia alone, but the entire region and its rational figures. This is the Saudi model and the spirit of Vision 2030 - the piercing vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
