The world has changed in the 70 some years since FDR met the Saudi king coming back from Yalta where he gave Stalin Eastern Europe.
Roosevelt started the special relationship with Saudi Arabia based on oil and now the Saudis and Gulf Arabs have the money and the energy resources Europe needs.
There’s irony because in the old days the Arab Legion did the fighting for the British in the Middle East.
Now the American Legion and the British Legion will do the fighting for the Arabs who have all the money that the Americans and the British used to have.
I’m beyond believing this proxy war is driven simply by Saudi money and influence. They are using much greater leverage. OPEC, by it’s charter, sells only in US dollars. Hence, the US dollar, in theory, is backed by oil, because you can only buy oil from OPEC with US dollars. The US is nearing energy independence, we’re no longer a good customer, our only value to the Saudi’s is serving as their military. I think the Saudi’s are threatening to take OPEC off the US dollar standard,mwhich would utterly devastate the US dollar. Something other OPEC members, namely Iran, whole heartedly support.