Tag: Saudi Arabia

Iranian strikes on Gulf energy sites and renewed threats against American installations are exposing how decades of US military expansion in the Middle East have tied Washington to regional regimes while increasing risks of wider war.

Donald Trump has been clear about framing oil as a central part of Washington’s interests in Venezuela, but whether the country’s vast reserves can translate into real prosperity is unclear.

Trump’s formal designation of Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally coincides with proposed F-35 and tank sales, a pledged increase in Saudi investments and renewed scrutiny of the Kingdom’s human rights record and the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

After a White House visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Trump’s pledge to sell F-35 fighter jets with no conditions, Rep. Ilhan Omar and human rights advocates warn that the deal rewards a repressive monarchy and sidelines accountability for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

How likely is it that these investments will rise by hundreds of billions of dollars in 4 years?

The investigation discovered that this extensive plan involves not only the deployment of fleets of petrol and diesel-fueled vehicles, but also a calculated move to lobby against subsidies for electric vehicles across the globe.

The decision to work with Ukraine on such a summit is likely more about Saudi anger over Putin’s recent decision to destroy the grain deal that facilitated the delivery of Ukrainian agricultural products to global markets.

"The United States must immediately freeze all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia," said Sen. Bob Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Even Trump has a hand in the attempted hijacking of golf.

Russia is increasingly becoming the Saudi Arabia of the north.