Blinken on a hiding to nothing in Saudi Arabia: China Daily editorial

After CIA Director William Burns' trip in April and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's in May, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Saudi Arabia for a third visit to the country this year by a senior official of the Joe Biden administration.

In public, these visits, in Washington's words, are reconciliatory moves to repair and stabilize the US' commitment to its strategic partnership with the Middle East powerhouse as well as peace and stability in the broader region. In private, US sources have revealed a likely more imperative priority on their government's agenda — to counter China's growing influence in the area.

Blinken tried to lower anticipations about Saudi Arabia and Israel normalizing relations prior to his trip, one of his most important topics in discussions with his Saudi hosts. The two sides did agree to continue discussing the matter. But just as he conceded earlier, it may not happen any time soon.

But the reality is none of the goals for his trip will be easy to accomplish. After all, too much has changed. From Iran to regional security to oil prices and human rights and the US-Saudi Arabia alliance itself, Washington and Riyadh have too much fence-mending to do for it to be done in a few visits like these.

Just days before Blinken's arrival, Saudi Arabia decided to further cut oil output on top of a broader OPEC+ deal to limit supply, despite Washington's opposition. And the day Blinken arrived, Iran reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia; Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman met with visiting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and talked about bilateral cooperation. Two days after Blinken leaves, Riyadh is reportedly going to host a major Arab-Chinese investment conference.

Washington may be alarmed at the changes that have taken place in its comparative absence in the Middle East over the past years, especially after news broke that Beijing successfully brokered the normalization of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. If its ongoing fence-mending is driven purely by its own geopolitical needs, rather than genuine concerns for regional peace and stability, the US should have no illusions about the outcomes.

As many have observed, as the US depends less on Saudi Arabia for oil supplies and the latter depends less on the former for protection, the longstanding "oil for security" formula is losing its appeal. With countries in the region growing increasingly conscious of regional unity and autonomy, they are at the same time taking the initiative in regional peace-making. Not to mention China has become Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner, and is proactively engaging in the regional peace process.

The US has been the dominant strategic power in the Middle East for decades and remains so today, but will it be so in the coming years?

Washington is trying to ensure that it will be, so that it will be able to dictate where the region's energy resources go. However, regional countries are demonstrating that they want to hold their future in their own hands.