Oct. 1, 2003
Joel Mowbray
State employees find second career flacking for House of Saud
The Middle East Institute, officially on the Saudi payroll, receives $200,000 of its annual $1.5 million budget from the Saudi government, and an unknown amount from Saudi individuals - often a meaningless distinction since most of the "individuals" with money to donate are members of the royal family, which constitutes the government.
MEI's chairman is Wyche Fowler, who was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1996 to 2001, and its president is Ned Walker, who has served as both deputy chief of mission in Riyadh and ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Also at MEI: David Mack, former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and deputy assistant secretary for NEA; Richard Parker, former ambassador to Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco; William Eagleton, former ambassador to Syria; Joseph C. Wilson, career FSO and former deputy chief of mission in Baghdad; David Ransom, former ambassador to Bahrain and former deputy chief of mission in Yemen, UAE and Syria; and Michael Sterner, former ambassador to UAE and deputy assistant secretary of NEA.
The money, the favors, and State's affinity for Saudi elites over the decades have all helped contribute to the "special relationship" between State and the House of Saud. Notes Hudson Institute senior fellow Laurent Murawiec, "This is a relationship that has been cemented by 40 years of money, power and political favors that goes much deeper than most people realize."
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Most of the Saudi money, though, goes indirectly to former State officials, most commonly by means of think tanks. This approach pays dividends in many ways: Foggy Bottom retirees get to have their cake - without the public realizing they're eating it - and the Saudis get to have "indirect" lobbyists, who promote the Saudi agenda under the cover of the think tank label. Three organizations in particular are the primary beneficiaries of Saudi petrodollars, and all are populated with former State officials: the Meridian International Center, the Middle East Policy Council, and the Middle East Institute.
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Wyche Fowler
Wyche Fowler is a Trustee of Brandywine Realty Trust. Mr. Fowler was first elected a Trustee on July 20, 2004. Mr. Fowler served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1977-86) and U.S. Senate (1987-92) and as ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1996-2001). Mr. Fowler received an A.B. degree in English from North Carolina's Davidson College in 1962 and a J.D. from Emory University in 1969. Mr. Fowler serves on a number of corporate and academic boards, including the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Global Green, Davidson College, and Mr. Fowler is board chair of the Middle East Institute, a nonprofit research foundation in Washington, D.C.