Past Virtual Event: Assessing a formal U.S.-Saudi alliance

There is no sign the Biden administration has given up on their proposed “grand bargain” between the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. Marketed as a boon for Middle East peace and a step toward diminishing China’s presence in the region, questions remain about the value of this agreement to the United States and what Americans would be asked to sacrifice for it. In particular, a provision that would have the United States guaranteeing Saudi Arabia’s security—a bold and potentially costly promise—deserves close scrutiny.

What are the details of this proposed agreement? Would Americans stand to gain (or lose) anything significant? How important is normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel? Does China want to displace the United States in the Middle East? How should we think about America’s role in the Middle East given our interests there?

Join us for a thoughtful discussion on these issues. The panel will feature Rose Kelanic, author of Black Gold and Blackmail: Oil and Great Power Politics and director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities; Jennifer Kavanaugh, author of the Foreign Affairs article “The case against Israeli-Saudi normalization” and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities; and Will Waldorf, author of Just Politics: Human Rights and the Foreign Policy of Great Powers and senior fellow at Defense Priorities. Moderating the discussion will be Defense Priorities Fellow Dan DePetris.