Proposed Saudi-US security agreement will enhance the Kingdom’s capabilities
and strengthen sovereignty
Faisal Al-Shammeri
12 June 2024
Saudi Arabia is negotiating an important agreement with the Biden administrati
on to finalize an accord for the provision of a few US security guarantees for
the Kingdom. This will include a program of technical assistance to Saudi Ara
bia’s civilian nuclear power industry.
Yet the Saudi government is insisting that this agreement between Riyadh and W
ashington is not a prelude to a Saudi normalization with Israel as part of a g
randiose scheme to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy works to advance the causes and concerns of all
Arabs and Muslims. This agreement indicates that Saudi Arabia can articulate
a strong national interest to ensure its safety and prosperity. The Kingdom do
es not bargain with any other country over its ultimate goals.
Saudi Arabia has well-defined principles that affirm its national interests. T
herefore, Saudi Arabia strengthens its sovereignty and the duty of its governm
ent to protect its people by developing its national nuclear program and getti
ng the US on its side to take the necessary measures to prevent conflict and s
trife in the Gulf area in particular and in the Middle East region in general.
The current agreement, still to be completed, is the culmination of previous n
egotiations that the Kingdom has engaged in with several American administrati
ons, whether Republican or Democrat. The Agreement for Technical Cooperation b
etween the US and Saudi Arabia, signed in Jeddah on May 8, 2023, was the most
recent agreement between the two nations to enhance their security cooperation
.
The very first security accord between Saudi Arabia and the US was signed in t
he year 2008 to assist Saudi Arabia in channeling its efforts to protect the c
ritical infrastructure base it has, and to safeguard the Saudi public from ter
rorist threats and attacks. Ever since that date, the content of subsequent se
curity agreements between Saudi Arabia and America has been adapting many chan
ges and modifications to counter the growing threats to which the Kingdom has
been subjected. The initial success of that program is witnessed by the high-q
uality training many Saudi security and defense personnel have received to hel
p them address the security requirements in the diverse and sophisticated 21st
-century Saudi state and economy.
The overwhelming asset of Saudi Arabia’s grand strategy is its power to act a
nd implement good policies in world politics faithfully and effectively.
The new security agreement when it is fully agreed upon and sanctioned is also
an extension of previous security relations between Saudi Arabia and the US.
Saudi Arabia is the US's biggest foreign military sales market, with a figure
exceeding $100 billion in active FMS deals. Moreover, bilateral trade and econ
omic ties have reached an unprecedented high.
The US is Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia is
one of the US’s biggest trading partners in the Middle East. The Kingdom is t
he third source of imported oil for the US. America imports about half a milli
on barrels of oil per day from Saudi Arabia. This economic cooperation has bee
n in place for over 20 years. In 2003, the US signed a Trade and Investment Fr
amework Agreement with Saudi Arabia. TIFA serves as an umbrella agreement for
ongoing structured dialogue between the US government and other international
partners on economic reform and trade liberalization, aligning with Saudi Arab
ia’s Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia’s unique role and distinguished status in the Arab and Islamic w
orlds contribute to the security and stability of all the world’s countries.
Many terrorist networks target the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia has the right to defe
nd itself. All the security agreements that the Saudi government has signed sa
feguard life and the societies of so many nations. Hence, additional cooperati
on between Saudi Arabia and the US solicits institutional arrangements between
the two nations to promote global and regional peace. Continuously, Washingto
n and Riyadh have had frequent consultations over a wide range of political an
d diplomatic topics.
Regrettably, the Biden administration tried to ignore the vital and pivotal ro
le of the Kingdom, but it failed miserably to isolate Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arab
ia dictated its own political will on Washington. Immediately, Washington’s p
olitical establishment recognized their mistake — that it is impossible to ne
gate the critical importance of Saudi Arabia.
The premise of this special agreement is peace in the Middle East. In this reg
ard, Saudi Arabia has a strategy linking and analyzing all the major elements
of regional conflict and cooperation. This includes how to help the Palestinia
ns and protect them, and it strives to establish a fully sovereign Palestinian
state. This agreement will pressure America to stop the war in Gaza.
Generally speaking, the Saudi people have faith in how their government initia
tes international cooperation. They applaud how the leadership of Saudi Arabia
prioritizes policies that require engaging with global partners, and at the s
ame time pursues the collaboration of all the countries in the world to give j
ustice to the Palestinians. The overwhelming asset of Saudi Arabia’s grand st
rategy is its power to act and implement good policies in world politics faith
fully and effectively.
https://pse.is/63dqbj
以下是chatGPT翻譯
沙烏地阿拉伯正在與拜登政府談判一項重要協議，該協議將最終確定美國對沙烏地提供的
一些安全保證。這將包括向沙烏地阿拉伯的民用核電產業提供技術援助計劃。然而，沙烏
地政府堅稱，這項協議並非利雅得與華盛頓之間的一個前奏，意圖將沙烏地正常化與以色
列的關係，作為結束阿以衝突的宏大計劃的一部分。
沙烏地阿拉伯的外交政策致力於推動所有阿拉伯人和穆斯林的事業和關注點。這項協議表
明，沙烏地阿拉伯可以明確其強大的國家利益，以確保其安全和繁榮。沙烏地阿拉伯不會
在其最終目標上與任何其他國家討價還價。
沙烏地阿拉伯有明確的原則來確認其國家利益。因此，沙烏地阿拉伯通過發展其國家核計
劃並讓美國站在其一邊來採取必要措施，防止海灣地區特別是中東地區的衝突和動亂，從
而加強其主權和政府保護人民的責任。
目前尚未完成的協議是沙烏地阿拉伯與幾屆美國政府進行談判的成果，無論是共和黨還是
民主黨。2023年5月8日在吉達簽署的《美沙技術合作協議》是兩國之間最近的一項協議，
以加強其安全合作。
沙烏地阿拉伯與美國的首個安全協議於2008年簽署，旨在幫助沙烏地阿拉伯集中精力保護
其關鍵基礎設施，並保護沙烏地公眾免受恐怖威脅和攻擊。自那時以來，沙烏地阿拉伯和
美國之間後續安全協議的內容隨著沙烏地面臨的日益增長的威脅進行了多次變更和修改。
該計劃的初步成功體現在許多沙烏地安全和防禦人員接受的高質量培訓，這幫助他們應對
21世紀多樣化和先進的沙烏地國家和經濟的安全需求。
沙烏地阿拉伯大戰略的壓倒性優勢在於其在世界政治中忠實有效地行動和實施良好政策的
能力。
當新安全協議完全達成並批准時，它也是沙烏地阿拉伯與美國之間之前安全關係的延伸。
沙烏地阿拉伯是美國最大的外國軍售市場，活躍的軍售交易額超過1000億美元。此外，雙
邊貿易和經濟聯繫也達到了前所未有的高峰。
美國是沙烏地阿拉伯的第二大貿易夥伴，而沙烏地阿拉伯是美國在中東最大的貿易夥伴之
一。沙烏地阿拉伯是美國第三大石油進口來源國，美國每天從沙烏地阿拉伯進口約50萬桶
石油。這種經濟合作已經持續了20多年。2003年，美國與沙烏地阿拉伯簽署了《貿易和投
資框架協議》。該協議作為一個框架協議，用於美國政府與其他國際合作夥伴之間就經濟
改革和貿易自由化進行的持續結構性對話，這與沙烏地阿拉伯的2030願景計劃相一致。
沙烏地阿拉伯在阿拉伯和伊斯蘭世界中的獨特角色和卓越地位有助於所有國家的安全與穩
定。許多恐怖組織以沙烏地阿拉伯為目標。沙烏地阿拉伯有權自衛。所有沙烏地政府簽署
的安全協議都是為了保護許多國家的生命和社會。因此，沙烏地阿拉伯與美國之間的進一
步合作需要兩國之間的制度安排，以促進全球和地區的和平。華盛頓和利雅得一直就廣泛
的政治和外交話題進行頻繁磋商。
遺憾的是，拜登政府曾試圖忽視沙烏地阿拉伯的重要和關鍵角色，但在孤立沙烏地阿拉伯
的努力上慘敗。沙烏地阿拉伯向華盛頓展示了其自身的政治意志。很快，華盛頓的政治機
構認識到他們的錯誤——即不可能否認沙烏地阿拉伯的重要性。
這項特殊協議的前提是中東的和平。在這方面，沙烏地阿拉伯有一個戰略，將地區衝突和
合作的主要要素聯繫和分析在一起。這包括如何幫助和保護巴勒斯坦人，並努力建立一個
完全主權的巴勒斯坦國家。該協議將施壓美國停止加沙的戰爭。
總的來說，沙烏地人民信任他們的政府如何啟動國際合作。他們讚賞沙烏地阿拉伯的領導
層如何優先考慮與全球夥伴的合作政策，同時也追求世界上所有國家的合作，以為巴勒斯
坦人伸張正義。沙烏地阿拉伯大戰略的壓倒性優勢在於其在世界政治中忠實有效地行動和
實施良好政策的能力。