US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Saudi Arabia last week for three declared reasons: to make sure the anti-Islamic State coalition maintains its important function, confer with the Gulf Cooperation Council and to improve bilateral ties between Washington and Riyadh.
Immediately prior to the summit, the top White House diplomat delivered an address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby group in which he indicated the possibility of further steps toward Saudi-Israeli normalization, while cautioning certain conditions must be met before realization of this long-expected development.
Blinken’s visit was also held against the backdrop of diplomatic and commercial American competition with Russia and especially China. Though the administration of US President Joe Biden has vowed there will not be a vacuum in the Mideast due to a shift of its top priorities elsewhere, Beijing seems to have already taken advantage of the perceived regional readjustment of American attention.
