Reuters (September 16)
“The last thing the slowing world economy needs is a big and unexpected disruption in oil output.” The drone attacks “took out roughly half of Saudi Arabia’s crude output appear to fit that bill. But even fragile global growth can probably withstand this first cut.” However, if “sustained disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supply–or anything that heightens the risk of them–will buoy crude. That will deliver the deepest cut to growth.”
Tags: Crude, Crude output, Disruption, Drone attacks, Economy, Fragile, Growth, Middle East, Oil, Output, Risk, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Unexpected
New York Times (November 21)
Donald Trump stood up “for Saudi Arabian values. He disregarded the C.I.A.’s conclusions and American values in swallowing the Saudi version of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.” The President did absolutely nothing to support “the safety of journalists or Americans abroad.” He “could not summon even a modicum of lip service to condemn the abomination of dispatching a hit team equipped with a bone saw to throttle and dismember Mr. Khashoggi for daring to criticize the crown prince.”
Tags: Abomination, Bone saw, C.I.A., Crown Prince, Dismember, Journalist, Khashoggi, Murder, Saudi Arabia, Trump, U.S., Values
Time (November 12)
“President Donald Trump took aim at Saudi Arabia’s plan to cut oil production on Monday, injecting new tension into an already fraught alliance that has been clouded by U.S. concerns over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the ongoing conflict in Yemen.”
Tags: Alliance, Conflict, Journalist, Khashoggi, Killing, Oil production, President, Saudi Arabia, Tension, Trump, U.S., Yemen
Washington Post (October 14)
Trump’s reckless Middle East “ambitions have been revealed as the misguided fantasies they always were. The disappearance and alleged murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has exposed the real return on Trump’s gambits: a string of reckless acts by the Saudis and Israelis that have made the region more rather than less unstable.” Both Israel and Saudi Arabia “have exploited Trump’s indulgence to the hilt, taking actions they never would have dared under Obama or any other previous president.”
Tags: Ambitions, Consulate, Indulgence, Israelis, Istanbul, Journalist, Khashoggi, Middle East, Obama, Reckless, Saudi Arabia, Trump
New York Times (October 8)
Donald Trump is basically giving dictators the “green light.” The President “has made it clear that the United States will no longer even pretend to stand up for liberal values globally.” On top of that, there has “never been an American president as enthusiastically pro-Saudi as Trump” so it is no wonder that “Saudi Arabia feels emboldened.”
Tags: Dictators, Emboldened, Green light, Liberal values, Pro-Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Trump, U.S.
Time (September 13)
“The United States may have reclaimed the title of the world’s biggest oil producer sooner than expected.” Based on preliminary estimates from the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. probably surpassed Russia this summer “after jumping over Saudi Arabia earlier this year. If those estimates are right, it would mark the first time since 1973 that the U.S. has led the world in output.”
Tags: 1973, Energy, Oil producer, Output, Preliminary estimates, Russia, Saudi Arabia, U.S.
Washington Post (August 21)
“For foreign countries that have made big bets on Donald Trump’s presidency — such as Russia, China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia — the U.S. midterm elections pose a significant problem: Trump’s maneuvering room may be sharply limited if Democrats win control of the House.” The Republicans hold on power looks “so precarious, that foreign commentators are debating what GOP losses in November could mean.”
Tags: China, Democrats, Election, Midterm, North Korea, Precarious, Republicans, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Trump, U.S.
Time (June 28)
Women currently “account for 22% of the Saudi workforce, according to government statistics. Bin Salman’s goal is to get that figure up to 30% by 2030. Not only will having women behind the wheel improve participation in the workforce, it will help the economy. According to Bloomberg, the lifting of the ban could add as much as $90 billion to economic output by 2030.”
Tags: Ban, Driving, Economy, MBS, Output, Participation, Saudi Arabia, Women, Workforce
New York Times (May 25)
Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman brought new hope that he would drag “his hidebound country into the modern age with a new vision.” Reform, however, is now “in reverse in Saudi Arabia” as the young prince cracks down on those who advocated for women’s right to drive. “It will be impossible for Prince Mohammed to legitimately claim the reformist mantle and achieve his economic goals as long as women are prevented from taking their full and rightful place in Saudi Arabia’s future.
Tags: Drive:, Hidebound, MBS, Modern age, Reform, Saudi Arabia, Vision, Women
Washington Post (November 5)
“While accompanied by the rhetoric of reform,” the purge in Saudi Arabia “resembles the approach of authoritarian regimes such as China. President Xi Jinping has used a similar anti-corruption theme to replace a generation of party and military leaders and to alter the collective leadership style adopted by recent Chinese rulers.” It remains to be seen whether the Crown Prince who’s pulling the strings, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has bitten off too much or if he will succeed with this “very risky power play.”
Tags: Anti-corruption, Authoritarian, China, Crown Prince, MBS, Power play, Purge, Reform, Regimes, Rhetoric, Risky, Saudi Arabia, Xi
