20240613
Saudi Arabia is negotiating with the Biden administration to finalize an agreement providing US security guarantees to the Kingdom. This will include a program of technical assistance for Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear power industry.
However, the Saudi government insists that this agreement between Riyadh and Washington is not a prelude to normalizing relations with Israel as part of a grand scheme to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The agreement results from negotiations between the Kingdom and several US administrations, both Republican and Democrat. The most recent achievement was the signing of the US-Saudi Technical Cooperation Agreement in Jeddah on May 8, 2023, to enhance the security cooperation between the two nations.
The first security agreement between Saudi Arabia and the US was signed in 2008, aimed at helping Saudi Arabia focus on protecting its critical infrastructure and safeguarding the Saudi public from terrorist threats and attacks. Since then, as threats to the Kingdom have grown, the content of subsequent security agreements between Saudi Arabia and the US has undergone many changes and adjustments. The initial success of the program is reflected in the high-quality training many Saudi security and defense personnel have received, helping them meet the diverse and complex security needs of the 21st-century Saudi state and economy.
The new security agreement, when fully agreed upon and sanctioned, will extend the previous security relations between Saudi Arabia and the US. Saudi Arabia is the US's largest foreign military sales market, with active FMS deals exceeding $100 billion. Moreover, bilateral trade and economic ties have reached unprecedented heights.
The US is Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia is one of the US’s biggest trading partners in the Middle East. The Kingdom is the third-largest source of imported oil for the US, with America importing about half a million barrels of oil per day from Saudi Arabia. This economic cooperation has been in place for over 20 years. In 2003, the US signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with Saudi Arabia. TIFA serves as an umbrella agreement for ongoing structured dialogue between the US government and other international partners on economic reform and trade liberalization, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
美国是沙乌地阿拉伯的第二大贸易伙伴，沙乌地阿拉伯则是美国在中东地区最大的贸易伙伴之一。沙乌地阿拉伯是美国第三大进口石油来源，美国每天从沙乌地阿拉伯进口约50万桶石油。这种经济合作已经持续了20多年。 2003年，美国与沙乌地阿拉伯签署了贸易和投资框架协议（TIFA）。 TIFA作为一个总协议，为美国政府与其他国际伙伴之间在经济改革和贸易自由化方面进行持续的结构性对话提供了框架，与沙乌地阿拉伯的2030愿景相一致。
Regrettably, the Biden administration attempted to ignore the Kingdom's vital and pivotal role but failed miserably to isolate Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia expressed its political will to Washington, and Washington’s political establishment immediately recognized their mistake — that it is impossible to negate Saudi Arabia's critical importance.
The premise of this special agreement is peace in the Middle East. In this regard, Saudi Arabia has a strategy linking and analyzing all major elements of regional conflict and cooperation, including how to help and protect Palestinians, and it strives to establish a fully sovereign Palestinian state. This agreement will pressure America to stop the war in Gaza.
Generally speaking, the Saudi people have faith in how their government initiates international cooperation. They applaud how the leadership of Saudi Arabia prioritizes policies that require engaging with global partners while pursuing the collaboration of all countries to seek justice for the Palestinians. The overwhelming asset of Saudi Arabia’s grand strategy is its power to act and implement good policies in world politics faithfully and effectively.