The U.S.-Saudi Mutual Partnership has a history of eight decades. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the then President of the United States, and King Abdul-Aziz laid the groundwork for this partnership, which brought the two countries' strategic interests together. Although issues such as Islamic extremism, economic policy, and human rights have damaged the relationship between the two countries in recent years, the important framework of relations was maintained and even expanded during the Trump era.(Photo quoted from Yahoo's image)

With Biden's victory in the presidential election, Riyadh congratulated him with a delay of several days; meanwhile Biden had previously named Saudi Arabia as a rebel during the election campaign and promised Riyadh to pay the price for human rights violations. In the meantime, it worth to be mentioned whether the Saudi-American relations will be removed from the alliance or not?

From a strategic point of view and based on the U.S. policies in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is a continuation of Washington's regional strategy in the Middle East. Therefore, with the change of government in the United States, there will be no change in Riyadh's position in the implementation of Washington's regional programs.

In fact, Saudi Arabia has always followed the United States in regional relations. In recent years, however, Riyadh has envisioned a strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of China, with China investing $ 100 billion in Saudi Arabia and Saudi’s presence in Road and Belt Initiatives.  But the United States does not want further tensions with Saudi Arabia to increase Riyadh's ties with China and Russia.

The U.S. plans to make adjustments in their allied governments, especially in areas such as freedom, democracy, and political participation. From this point of view, the "Vision 2030" plan and the plan of the Saudi government to change the shape of the Saudi economy and society can cause a fundamental change in Saudi Arabia.

Washington released a report on Khashoggi 's assassination. Although this report cites analysis and evidences that Muhammad bin Salman was involved in Khashgeji's assassination, it did not punish the Saudi Crown Prince and instead, imposed sanctions on those involved in the case and a ban on entry into the United States. 

In fact, the publication of Jamal Khashoggi 's report does not have a far-reaching effect on the U.S.-Saudi historical relations. But Washington's move has been interpreted as leverage against Riyadh in the Yemeni war and Iran's nuclear case.  It means that although the U.S. government has made human rights a priority and many in the United States have called for a review of relations between Washington and Riyadh, there is a clear tendency to separate the U.S.-Saudi relationship from that of the Crown Prince.

On the other hand, the Biden administration ended the U.S. support for Saudi offensive operations in Yemen and halted arms sales, but Washington still seems to distinguish between offensive and defensive weapons, and the United States continues its military commitments to Riyadh.

What is clear is that foreign policy is not an arena for the expression of morals and values, but a field for the advancement of interests. Therefore, Washington's unwillingness to sever ties with Saudi Arabia or confront it shows that there has been a change in the historical relations between the two sides, but there will be no fundamental change; rather, it is about resetting the relationship.

In fact, the relation between the United States and Saudi Arabia is a long-standing partnership, and neither can seriously look to the other partner instead. Therefore, it seems unlikely that relations between Riyadh and Washington will witness fundamental changes and unresolved crises.

Farzad Ramezani Bonesh

Senior Researcher and Analyst of International Affairs