The Saudi Exception

The U.S.-Saudi relationship is fraught with complications. Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, giving it influence over what Americans pay at the gas pump. At the same time, the kingdom’s human rights abuses are at odds with the United States’ stated democratic values. Who holds the power in this partnership? And what compromises are being made so the countries can work together?

Play Button Pause Button
0:00 0:00
x
Host
  • Gabrielle Sierra
    Director, Podcasting
Credits

Asher Ross - Supervising Producer

Markus Zakaria - Audio Producer and Sound Designer

Episode Guests
  • Lina Alhathloul
    Head of Monitoring and Communications, ALQST for Human Rights
  • Madawi Al-Rasheed
    Visiting Professor, Middle East Center, London School of Economics
  • Steven A. Cook
    Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars

Show Notes

Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, giving it undoubted influence over what Americans pay at the gas pump. Middle East experts argue that the U.S. economy is inextricably linked to Saudi Arabia, at least until the United States transitions to cleaner energy sources. Meanwhile, human rights activists around the world have called on Washington to sever ties with Riyadh over its human rights violations. In this episode, Why It Matters examines the often disharmonious U.S.-Saudi relationship, and the compromises being made so the countries can work together.

 

 

From CFR

 

Andrew Chatzky and Anshu Siripurapu, “OPEC in a Changing World

 

F. Gregory Gause III, “America’s New Realism in the Middle East,” Foreign Affairs

 

Richard Haass, “The Keys to the Kingdom,” Project Syndicate

 

U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relations

 

Yasmine Farouk and Andrew Leber, “America and Saudi Arabia Are Stuck With Each Other,” Foreign Affairs 


 

From Our Guests

 

Lina Alhathloul and Uma Mishra-Newbery, Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers, minedition 

 

Madawi Al-Rasheed, Muted Modernists: The Struggle Over Divine Politics in Saudi Arabia, Oxford University Press

 

Steven A. Cook and Martin S. Indyk, The Case for a New U.S.-Saudi Strategic Compact, Council on Foreign Relations


 

Read More

 

Ben Hubbard, “Biden’s Saudi Lesson: The Only Path Runs Through MBS,” New York Times

 

Jonathan Guyer, “Biden Arrives in a Saudi Arabia Where Human Rights Violations Go Far Beyond Khashoggi’s Murder,” Vox

 

 

Watch and Listen

 

Getting More Oil From Saudi Arabia or the UAE Could Require U.S. Concessions,” All Things Considered, NPR

 

Should the United States Rethink Its Relationship With Saudi Arabia?,” The President’s Inbox

Maternal and Child Health

In the past thirty years, sixty countries have expanded access to abortion care as an underpinning of maternal health. The 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade made the United States the fourth country ever to decrease access to abortion—and the world took notice. Some countries have since reinforced protections for abortion care, while others have moved to further restrict it.

India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular man in India. On track to be elected for a third term, he has boosted the country’s global standing and propelled strong economic growth while consolidating power and galvanizing majoritarian support for his Hindu nationalist agenda—all while growing closer to the United States. How could Hindu nationalism reshape India?

Media

In a wide-ranging conversation, Foreign Affairs Editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan joins Why It Matters to discuss nonpartisan publishing in a polarized political climate, the state of press freedom around the world, and the future of journalism.

Top Stories on CFR

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

The war in Ukraine marks a new era of instability in Europe. Countering Russia’s efforts will require a stronger, more coordinated NATO.

China

After the rise of Chinese power during the 2010s and failed U.S. policies in the Indo-Pacific, the United States should renew the Pivot to Asia and place the region at the center of its grand strategy.*

France

Far-right advances in the European Parliament elections have destabilized politics in France, a longstanding pillar of the European Union, and highlighted fault lines in the bloc.