Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've dou Ala Hyak joins this now a young voice
is senior contributor and a leading Middle East analyst. Welcome
in im do a look. Glad to have you back
with me.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Thank you very much, it's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
So your thoughts on the visit we had last week
from the Crown Prince Saudi Arabia. Yeah, they're somewhat of
an ally, but you know, keep one eye open, and
they come to the White House and there was a
lot of pushback on the fact that this guy has
got some background. It's not so friendly because Shelby, I
(00:30):
guess was a guy's name, the reporter that was killed,
and then they kind of diverted that questioning there. Your
thoughts on how this looks globally and also the United
States welcoming somebody that's controversial.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
To begin with. I think it's important to note that
the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States during
the Biden administration was very unstable, unfriendly, and some might
describe it as a somewhat hostile Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
There's a lot of things that were unstable during the
Biden administration. I'll give you that, that's for sure. Globally,
and domestically absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Hammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince respects Trump and likes them,
and the same goes to Trump. Trump likes strong leaders,
he likes young, powerful, authoritative figures. Hammad bin Salman was
not the same Hummadmin Salman during the first Trump administration
(01:32):
of twenty seventeen to twenty twenty one. When MBS came.
He wants to make two things clear. He wants to
reinforce and solidify the already strong US Saudi relationship and
transform it into something magnanimous. And second of all, he
wants to change the traditional relationship between the US and
(01:55):
Saudi to reflect and mirror America first, with Saudi first. Traditionally,
the relationship between Saudi and the US entailed that, you know,
the US would tend to the matters of the broader
Middle East, the Arab affairs, the Islamic affairs that have
Saudi spearhead those affairs. NBS doesn't want that. NBS wants
(02:19):
that the relationship between the US and Saudi to be
solely focused on that, and that entails his vision twenty thirty,
his new AI Adventures, his new you know, the investments
in Saudi Arabia, all detect. So with all of those
life changing initiatives that the Saudis are embarking, especially with
(02:42):
the amounts of money we're seeing pumping in to the US,
I think something that happened about eighty seven years ago,
and of course, with the war and Yemen and the
controversy there, the US has decided to move past that
and set forth conditions that with all of these new initiatives,
you can't go back on it and do something like
(03:03):
what you did with Kashogi or targeting civilians and Yemen, right,
and so far NBS has moved forward with that. He
hasn't you know, that adventurism of you know, self independence,
of just clearing up money.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, let me ask you this, Ada, you know. With
that said, as much as NBS wants to be first
in line when it comes to relations in the area
with the United States, and basically, look, we're in this together,
mister President Trump, I want you to consider us first
in all activity in the in the Middle East. Here, Okay,
there's got to be something that Donald Trump's going to
get now he is getting a bunch of money. Beyond
(03:38):
the money, I would think that he would want the
Saudis to step up when there's conflict in that Middle
East region there Israel Hamas Palestinian situation and take a
greater stand because during the conflict, when the war broke out,
the Saudis were over there just kind of looking the
other way, going Okay, we're not getting involved here, We're
not gonna, We're not gonna. It doesn't seem you allies
(04:00):
in that region came off the bench and came to
back us up. As much as the president probably would
have won it, is he going to expect that from MBS?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Definitely not. And I'll tell you why. The Saudis have
traditionally never intervened militarily the way other allies in the
region have. The only time that Saudis really intervened on
besides of the US was during the Go for nineteen
nineteen nineteen ninety one. Now that also comes into the
Saudi first policy that MBS wants to embark in, which
(04:32):
is worse. Surrounded by all these conflicts Syria, Gaza, Iran, Yemen.
Now they obviously concern US, but I think the best
way to make sure that they don't expand into US
is to contain them and not intervene militarily. In them now.
If you remember, during the first Trump administration, Saudi was
very much in line with the maximum pressure campaign on Iran.
(04:56):
He was very much in favor of US strikes on
on the way Netanyahu of Israel is today that Saudi
policy has changed. Saudi believes in a more integrated tapestry
of relations between the broader Middle East, and that includes,
for your information, with Israel. However, with Israel, the thing is,
(05:19):
you know, the Saudis, they don't want to be just
another Arab Muslim country that normalizes with Israel and doesn't
get anything in return. Saudi, especially NBS, he wants to
be the champion, the man who brought the victory home
for the region, that he ended the conflict as a whole.
That's why the sole Saudi condition is that they will
(05:40):
not normalize with Israel unless there is a Palestinian state
or pathway towards a Palestinian state.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Okay, with that statement and that understanding, though, I gotta
ask you, will the Saudis to at least take a
vocal position with Donald Trump and the rest of the
West when it comes to Irans the head of the snake,
and when it comes to terrorism in denouncing Iran and
anything they're doing to feed terrorism.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Well, they've already denounced Iran and they've already done their
part in regards to Iran. But in terms of, you know,
a military conflict, in terms of seeing a Saudi Iranian war,
that will never happen because the Saudis know that their
conventional military capabilities are not going to be met that
with the Iranians. The Iranians are asymmetrical. They have drones
(06:28):
and ballistic missiles, and they can just saturate the attacks
and just attack the oil wells and the oil facilities
in Saudi, and that will just kill the Saudi economy.
Saudi can't fight such a war. So it's in Saudi's
best interest, which will in return extend to the broader
US interests of the escalation in the region, to the
(06:48):
escalate with Iran. And there's examples of that. I mean
with the war in the Red Sea, with the Houfies
disrupting all the maritime shipping and attacking all the US
warships and all the vessels. You can imagine, not a
single missile was phone over from Yemen into Saudi because
the Saudi just don't want any escalation because they recognize
(07:09):
now part of their vision for a broader Saudi role
globally that entails that the Saudi economy is central in
terms of oil flow and investment into Saudi that will
in return affect the global economy.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
No doubt about it, and no doubt money is always
at the hottom line of everything. Follow the money, and
that's going to be a lot of the basis of
negotiations and relationships for sure. Abdullah, thank you so much, buddy,
always a good to catch up with you, a very
great insight on all this. Thank you.
I've dou Ala Hyak joins this now a young voice
is senior contributor and a leading Middle East analyst. Welcome
in im do a look. Glad to have you back
with me.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Thank you very much, it's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
So your thoughts on the visit we had last week
from the Crown Prince Saudi Arabia. Yeah, they're somewhat of
an ally, but you know, keep one eye open, and
they come to the White House and there was a
lot of pushback on the fact that this guy has
got some background. It's not so friendly because Shelby, I
(00:30):
guess was a guy's name, the reporter that was killed,
and then they kind of diverted that questioning there. Your
thoughts on how this looks globally and also the United
States welcoming somebody that's controversial.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
To begin with. I think it's important to note that
the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States during
the Biden administration was very unstable, unfriendly, and some might
describe it as a somewhat hostile Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
There's a lot of things that were unstable during the
Biden administration. I'll give you that, that's for sure. Globally,
and domestically absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Hammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince respects Trump and likes them,
and the same goes to Trump. Trump likes strong leaders,
he likes young, powerful, authoritative figures. Hammad bin Salman was
not the same Hummadmin Salman during the first Trump administration
(01:32):
of twenty seventeen to twenty twenty one. When MBS came.
He wants to make two things clear. He wants to
reinforce and solidify the already strong US Saudi relationship and
transform it into something magnanimous. And second of all, he
wants to change the traditional relationship between the US and
(01:55):
Saudi to reflect and mirror America first, with Saudi first. Traditionally,
the relationship between Saudi and the US entailed that, you know,
the US would tend to the matters of the broader
Middle East, the Arab affairs, the Islamic affairs that have
Saudi spearhead those affairs. NBS doesn't want that. NBS wants
(02:19):
that the relationship between the US and Saudi to be
solely focused on that, and that entails his vision twenty thirty,
his new AI Adventures, his new you know, the investments
in Saudi Arabia, all detect. So with all of those
life changing initiatives that the Saudis are embarking, especially with
(02:42):
the amounts of money we're seeing pumping in to the US,
I think something that happened about eighty seven years ago,
and of course, with the war and Yemen and the
controversy there, the US has decided to move past that
and set forth conditions that with all of these new initiatives,
you can't go back on it and do something like
(03:03):
what you did with Kashogi or targeting civilians and Yemen, right,
and so far NBS has moved forward with that. He
hasn't you know, that adventurism of you know, self independence,
of just clearing up money.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, let me ask you this, Ada, you know. With
that said, as much as NBS wants to be first
in line when it comes to relations in the area
with the United States, and basically, look, we're in this together,
mister President Trump, I want you to consider us first
in all activity in the in the Middle East. Here, Okay,
there's got to be something that Donald Trump's going to
get now he is getting a bunch of money. Beyond
(03:38):
the money, I would think that he would want the
Saudis to step up when there's conflict in that Middle
East region there Israel Hamas Palestinian situation and take a
greater stand because during the conflict, when the war broke out,
the Saudis were over there just kind of looking the
other way, going Okay, we're not getting involved here, We're
not gonna, We're not gonna. It doesn't seem you allies
(04:00):
in that region came off the bench and came to
back us up. As much as the president probably would
have won it, is he going to expect that from MBS?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Definitely not. And I'll tell you why. The Saudis have
traditionally never intervened militarily the way other allies in the
region have. The only time that Saudis really intervened on
besides of the US was during the Go for nineteen
nineteen nineteen ninety one. Now that also comes into the
Saudi first policy that MBS wants to embark in, which
(04:32):
is worse. Surrounded by all these conflicts Syria, Gaza, Iran, Yemen.
Now they obviously concern US, but I think the best
way to make sure that they don't expand into US
is to contain them and not intervene militarily. In them now.
If you remember, during the first Trump administration, Saudi was
very much in line with the maximum pressure campaign on Iran.
(04:56):
He was very much in favor of US strikes on
on the way Netanyahu of Israel is today that Saudi
policy has changed. Saudi believes in a more integrated tapestry
of relations between the broader Middle East, and that includes,
for your information, with Israel. However, with Israel, the thing is,
(05:19):
you know, the Saudis, they don't want to be just
another Arab Muslim country that normalizes with Israel and doesn't
get anything in return. Saudi, especially NBS, he wants to
be the champion, the man who brought the victory home
for the region, that he ended the conflict as a whole.
That's why the sole Saudi condition is that they will
(05:40):
not normalize with Israel unless there is a Palestinian state
or pathway towards a Palestinian state.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Okay, with that statement and that understanding, though, I gotta
ask you, will the Saudis to at least take a
vocal position with Donald Trump and the rest of the
West when it comes to Irans the head of the snake,
and when it comes to terrorism in denouncing Iran and
anything they're doing to feed terrorism.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Well, they've already denounced Iran and they've already done their
part in regards to Iran. But in terms of, you know,
a military conflict, in terms of seeing a Saudi Iranian war,
that will never happen because the Saudis know that their
conventional military capabilities are not going to be met that
with the Iranians. The Iranians are asymmetrical. They have drones
(06:28):
and ballistic missiles, and they can just saturate the attacks
and just attack the oil wells and the oil facilities
in Saudi, and that will just kill the Saudi economy.
Saudi can't fight such a war. So it's in Saudi's
best interest, which will in return extend to the broader
US interests of the escalation in the region, to the
(06:48):
escalate with Iran. And there's examples of that. I mean
with the war in the Red Sea, with the Houfies
disrupting all the maritime shipping and attacking all the US
warships and all the vessels. You can imagine, not a
single missile was phone over from Yemen into Saudi because
the Saudi just don't want any escalation because they recognize
(07:09):
now part of their vision for a broader Saudi role
globally that entails that the Saudi economy is central in
terms of oil flow and investment into Saudi that will
in return affect the global economy.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
No doubt about it, and no doubt money is always
at the hottom line of everything. Follow the money, and
that's going to be a lot of the basis of
negotiations and relationships for sure. Abdullah, thank you so much, buddy,
always a good to catch up with you, a very
great insight on all this. Thank you.
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