April 7, 2014
Washington DC –The Director of the Gulf Institute Ali AlAhmed published an article in Politico Magazine on March 27 to coincide with President Barack Obama.
President Barack Obama travels to meet with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah on Friday amid what can only be described as a falling out between Washington and Riyadh. After enjoying strong military and economic ties with both Bush administrations, the ruling Al Saud family has grown more and more wary of Obama ever since he took office. For the past several months, Saudi officials have lambasted the United States for abandoning its Gulf allies: “The big bear has not proven to be very bearish-like recently,” Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, said in December. The two main sticking points are Syria—where the United States refuses to become entangled in the country’s civil war, despite the Saudis’ calls to intervene on the rebels’ behalf—and Iran—which has warmed to Washington, including in a nuclear deal late last year that was a major blow to the staunchly Sunni Saudi monarchy.
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