50 Years of US-Saudi Bromance

In the 1970s, there was a looming oil crisis and the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, which involved the US unpegging the dollar from gold. In 1974, the Petrodollar system was born, an unofficial agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia. The US would provide military protection and purchase Saudi debt, while Saudi Arabia would sell oil exclusively in US dollars. This marked the beginning of the strong partnership between the two nations.

In 2023, China and Saudi Arabia furthered their currency swap agreement and increased their cooperation, even floating the idea of accepting yuan for oil. This marks a decline in the Petrodollar system. For roughly 50 years, the US and Saudi Arabia have upheld their agreement based on an implicit understanding. However, under the Biden administration, relations have drastically deteriorated.

Under the Biden administration, their insistence on moving away from fossil fuels in pursuit of green energy and the delusional net zero agenda has only increased the use of fossil fuels. First, due to grid stability, renewable energy is unreliable, and therefore fossil fuels are used to back up the grid when renewable energy fails.

On top of the fact that the green agenda is funded and lobbied by the oil and gas industry, they have invested in renewable energy projects and lobbied governments for green policies that contribute to higher fossil fuel prices, which are still in demand. Policies like carbon taxes and emissions regulations are nothing more than financial gains for the oil and gas industry. They are double dipping.

Biden's administration's green policies did not harm the relationship with Saudi Arabia, an oil rich country. It is what Biden chose not to do. Biden has failed to uphold the implicit understanding that the US would provide military protection to Saudi Arabia since 1974.

In 2018, Trump stopped the crucial role of aerial refueling, which enabled Saudi led aircraft to carry out long range airstrikes in Yemen, in response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. In February 2021, Biden paused and restricted the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, such as bombs and missiles used in airstrikes in Yemen.

Muslims going to war with Muslims began 1,400 years ago during the first Fitna. If it could have been resolved, it would have already been. No amount of humanitarian wishful thinking will change this. The Saudis and their allies have the right to protect themselves from Iran and the axis of evil in the Middle East, particularly in Yemen, and they should be encouraged to do so.

The cheapest solution is for Trump to rekindle the bromance with Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The expensive solution would be allowing the collapse of the petrodollar, which involves the US unpegging the dollar from oil and trade, disrupting the dollar milkshake theory and thereby limiting the US's global influence. Replacing the petrodollar with a crypto-dollar or fusion-dollar system would be an uphill battle, a challenging and heavily contested undertaking, opposed by various internal and external actors.

If the US-Saudi relationship continues to deteriorate, this shift in power will disrupt the world order and lead to an increasingly chaotic and tyrannical world. Actors such as China, Iran, and North Korea will use this opportunity to fund more death and destruction on a global scale.

US-Saudi relations are still evolving, and I have faith in the good men. After all, it is this implicit understanding between good men. An ancient value passed down across cultures and empires to the present day. That we do what we must and uphold the end of our deal.