How Joe Biden can woo the Saudis

‘You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing,’ said Winston Churchill, ‘after they have tried everything else.’ After much American talk of a ‘pivot to Asia’ and hence ‘withdrawal from the Middle East’, president Biden and his top team are visiting Israel today. From there, they will head to the heart of the Arab and Muslim worlds: Saudi Arabia.

Biden is coming from a White House full of young political staffers, most of whom have little respect for age and wisdom. In the Middle East, as with most Muslim-majority nations, a culture of veneration for the elderly still holds. Leaders, families, tribes, faiths, traditions and, with it, shame and honour resonate. By shifting away from the naive (‘progressive’) base of his political party, and connecting with Arab instincts that maintain regional order, Biden can help America and strengthen the liberal rules-based world.

In his own words, America needs the Middle East because: 

‘Its waterways are essential to global trade and the supply chains we rely on.