Biden was not allowed to land at Saudi Arabia capital, Riyadh; he landed in Jeddah , near the Red Seas coast; that’s alone is an insult. There wasn’t any American flag , he was not received by the king nor the crown prince . He was met by the Mayor of Jeddah, another slap on the face.
Crown prince met him and bump fists, with a stonefly face. During the meeting Biden raised the issue of the death reporter and human rights; the crown prince shot back: America is guilty of killing thousands of civilian civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan ; and a very large photo displayed at the meeting venue showing man felling from US military C5 transport in Afghanistan. A total humiliation for a US president . The king nor the crown prince attended the state dinner, the humiliation is complete.
Crown Prince directly said diferent countries have different values and those difference in values must be respected. This is clearly the language of China and Russia. China and Russia repeatedly said different countries have different value systems and West has no right to impose its own values on like electoral democracy and liberalism feminism etc. on others. Ideologically Saudi is in Multi Polar camp. In economic and military issues, Saudi will keep bargaining between USA and China-Russia. This is clear from Saudi Foreign Minister's words which say Saudi do not think relations between USA and China have to be mututally exclusive and that Saudi wants better relations with both the countries.
Saudi and China are the two most important reasons why the Western sanctions could not destroy Russia. Saudi kept oil price high in global market and thus sanctions on Russia simply resulted in inflation in Western world never seen since 1970s. China gave Russia market for its oil which kept Russian export earnings intact. India and Brazil too continued to buy cheaper (than global price oil) from Russia. Many other countries are buying Russian cheaper oil too. Saudi promised to Biden that the former will raise production by mere 1.5 million barrel per day and that also by 2023. So oil price to remain high in global market in 2022.
The end of American hegemony is almost complete now. From Russia to Turkey from ASEAN to Saudi from Iran to Latin America, from South Africa to India nobody is ready to be in US led camp. Only India nourishes anti China views and hence wants to move with both USA and Russia which is an absurd idea and will obviously fail. Even Australia is showing signs of reconciliation with China. European Union has lot to gain from China but being politically subservient to USA, it is failing to follow its desirable relations with China. But from Ukraine episode it is clear that European leaders are recognizing the fact that their interests may not match US interests. Japan like India will continue to follow anti China policies.
Author: Saikat Bhattacharya
