HUMAN RIGHTS SHOULD NOT DICTATE FOREIGN POLICY .... BUT UNDER BIDEN, IT DOES

The moral high ground cannot replace foreign policy

 

By Prof. Eyal Zisser

 

Israel Hayom

February 28, 2021

 

A month after taking office US President Joe Biden has decided to no longer sit on the sidelines in the Middle East and make a show of force – one that can only be mounted by a world power the likes of the United States.

However, it is not Iran – the aggressive force seeking the destabilize the region – that Washington has it its sights, but Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally of the US, which has been dealing Riyadh one blow after another in recent weeks.

First, the Americans removed the Houthi rebels in Yemen from the list of terrorist organizations, despite the fact that the Houthis – an Iranian proxy on a par with Hezbollah in Lebanon – are waging a war of attrition against Saudi Arabia and could very well turn their Iranian weapons against Israel, as well.

Saudi King Salman, much like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had to wait far too long for the traditional call from the incoming president.

Now, it what seems to be adding insult to injury, a US intelligence report has determined that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved an operation to capture or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the royal family, in 2018 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, citing the crown prince's control of decision-making in Gulf kingdom.

While the Biden administration did not penalize the crown prince personally, it did impose visa restrictions on 76 Saudis "believed to have been engaged in threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the Khashoggi killing."

In the Middle East, the American measures are interpreted as a renunciation of the royal family. This is not too far off from the policy the US adopted vis-à-vis the Shah of Iran in the late 1970s, thereby contributing to the fall of his regime and rise of the ayatollahs.

One hopes that the Saudi royal family would rise to the challenge and not repeat the mistake of the Shah, who relied on the US to help him in time of need.

Biden administration officials may be trying to come off like a group of boy scouts but they must understand that asserting the moral high ground cannot replace foreign policy nor can it substitute state interests.

The illusion of being able to "fix" the Middle East failed miserably a decade ago and the Arab Spring, for which the Americans had high hopes, had calamitous implications.

Moreover, the US must also consider the alternatives: do they choose Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally, and try to get it to redeem its ways through a secret and poignant dialogue; or do they choose Iran, the sworn enemy of all that America stands for.

The Saudis most likely eliminated a dissident journalist – many regimes have done the same, be they allies or foes of the United States, which itself has some similar incidents in the past.

The only mistake the Saudis made was getting caught by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – a champion of democracy if ever there was one.

Those seeking the United States' friendship must understand the sensitivities of the administration, which pays great attention to media and public opinions. But when this administration sets put to "right the world" by "destroying the old world," it must understand that its actions have consequences.