Riyadh Reorients to Moscow

by Daniel Pipes
Wed, 5 Dec 2007
updated Mon, 26 Nov 2007

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The Saudi government has just made a major military move away from the United States and toward Russia, reports Geostrategy-Direct, a private intelligence service offered by the somewhat clandestine East West Services, Inc. In a report titled "Fears of U.S. ‘grand bargain' with Iran sends Saudis to Moscow" (available only via paid subscription), it details the recent visit to Moscow by Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, where he reportedly began a strategic dialogue with President Vladimir Putin and spent (according to the Gulf Research Center) $2.2 billion on scores of main battle tanks and up to 150 Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters.

	Russia's President Vladimir Putin (left) greets Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz at the Kremlin.

Why the shift in policy in Riyadh? Geostrategy-Direct emphasizes its fears of a U.S.-Iranian deal, with lesser attention to access to military technology without all the strings attached by Washington, particularly in the areas of spy satellites and nuclear infrastructure. Surely other factors also have a role here, including a Saudi sense of the growing animosity to the kingdom in the United States.

Comment: However problematic Putin's Russia, it is not the Soviet Union, promoting its own brand of totalitarianism. Therefore, should it reduce or rid American politics of the noxious fumes of Saudi influence (for some of its manifestations, see my article on "The Scandal of U.S.-Saudi Relations"), I do not see this development as particularly harmful from the point of view of U.S. interests. (December 5, 2007)

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Reader comments on this weblog entry

Title	By	Date
Good riddance [114 words]	Vijay	Dec 9, 2007 11:25
Actually it clears things up [90 words]	David W. Lincoln	Dec 7, 2007 11:33
Wishful Thinking [87 words]	sbalog	Dec 7, 2007 10:26
Re: Whistling Past Graveyards [84 words]	Neal	Dec 7, 2007 09:19
With Brazil Too. [135 words]	Ynnatchkah	Dec 5, 2007 14:17
Are the Saudis BUYING arms from Russia because Bush wants to GIVE THEM $20 billion in arms? [278 words]	DrRJP	Dec 5, 2007 10:42
Ends covering the middle [38 words]	Brian H	Dec 4, 2007 11:59
Biggest Geo-Strategic Blunder Ever, but I Guess Dr. Pipes is Right to be Optimistic [163 words]	Alex	Dec 3, 2007 15:14
Saudis just playing us off against Russia, Iran irrelevant [156 words]	Charles Martel	Dec 3, 2007 13:46
Flynt Analysis on the issue and disconnection in reality. [351 words]	Ynnatchkah	Dec 2, 2007 02:45

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