This could be as big a watershed moment for the Arab world as the fall of the Soviet Union was for the communist world... And hardly anyone here is noticing it.
“This could be as big a watershed moment for the Arab world as the fall of the Soviet Union was for the communist world... And hardly anyone here is noticing it.”
Here’s my POV on the whole thing: The oil money is running out. No, it isn’t going to ever disappear for them (especially the Saudis), but oil as a source of vast and unending income is...ending. Or, rather, HAS ended already. Something that the Arabs could never have done anything about - the advance of oil exploration and extraction technology - is the cause; that, and the deposit of trillions of barrels of oil in shale formations across the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. This was bound to happen at some point, and the rapid advances in fracking, etc. have just accelerated it. So, unless the Saudis (and Kuwaitis and others) who enjoy the benefits of Western technology and protection want to suddenly do without those things, they HAVE to cut a deal...
...and along comes Trump, the ultimate deal-maker, and someone who is also unabashedly pro-American. IMHO, Trump let them know that they could cut a deal NOW - or never. If never, then we’d economically grind them into the dust, and not protect them (or just barely so) from internal revolution or the Iranians if push came to shove. This is very much like what happened with the Soviets - the Soviet General Staff, after the Israelis shot down 79 advanced Soviet jets (some piloted by Russians) without a single loss of their own in a single engagement, came to the Politburo and told them that “we cannot defeat the West, cut your best deal now, before it is too late.” So they did - and Gorbachev’s rise was part of that deal.
That, IMHO, is what is happening in Saudi Arabia. They are not only going to largely cut out funding to outright terrorist groups, but also to other nations that support terrorists. They will stop making bribes (whatever they may be called) to American political parties. They will cooperate with us and with Israel to stop the Iranians. In return, we won’t crush them quite so hard, and we’ll have their backs vs. internal revolts and outside threats. IOW, it is an updating and revising of the agreement that Reagan had with the Saudis to help crush the Soviets, protect them from the Iranians (there really is nothing new under the Sun) and ensure that they had a reasonable income while we did, too.
Just my $0.02.
That's because MSM is focused on bread and circus - and downplaying anything Trump might get credit for.
It’s amazing how few are noticing. This thread has 11 replies!