Saudi-US Relations - Perspectives on the Kingdom

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"The key is, as always, to not allow yourself to make assumptions about a place, about people, that you fail to test against realities on the ground," said Amb Chas Freeman. Here, an American delegation visits the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to learn about economic reforms in the Kingdom. (Photo: Patrick Ryan) SUSRIS EXCLUSIVE

Reforms and Relations:
Perspectives on the Kingdom
A Conversation with Amb Chas Freeman

Editor's Note:

The mood among America's allies in the Arab world was examined in an essay last November by Ambassador Chas Freeman who concluded after two weeks in Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, "Interest in placating American views or in cooperating with the United States on regional or global issues has been succeeded by passive-aggressive indifference and obstructionism, barely concealed by the exquisitely agreeable manners that are the hallmark of Arab political culture." SUSRIS followed up with Freeman a month later in a conversation, provided here today, that touched on his "Impressions of Arabia" but also sought his perspectives on reform and modernization in Saudi Arabia, taking advantage of insights he gained at the inauguration of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology as well as his broad knowledge of developments in the Kingdom to get a pulse check on the Saudi-U.S. relationship.

Ambassador Freeman, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and currently President of the Middle East Policy Council, also serves as moderator of MEPC's Capitol Hill series. These periodic half day symposia, which focus policymakers on Middle East foreign policy issues, tackle the pressing issues of the day and can be reviewed at the Council's web site. (Links below)

Reforms and Relations: Perspectives on the Kingdom
A Conversation with Amb. Chas Freeman

SUSRIS: What are your impressions of King Abdullah's accomplishments in reform and modernization in Saudi Arabia?

Amb. Chas Freeman: I believe King Abdullah is very rapidly becoming Abdullah the Great. If you look at his record over the time of his regency when he was Crown Prince, he was acting in many ways as chief of state. Since he became king I've been struck by the scope of change. It has been quite extraordinary. He has with remarkable speed, in the Saudi context, changed many things; but he is at a very advanced age and he is quite conscious that he can't count on being King for a long time.

In foreign affairs he turned traditional Saudi policy on its head with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. He committed Saudi Arabia not to be the last, but to be the first to act to bolster an agreement that might be reached between Palestinians and Israelis by normalizing relations with Israel. He resolved the last of the Kingdom's border questions – the land border with Yemen and the maritime border with Kuwait.

More recently Saudi Arabia has clearly emerged as the diplomatic leader of the Arab world. It is one of two countries in the Middle East, the other being Iran, really driving events. King Abdullah has responded very effectively, in my view, to a series of adverse regional developments, some brought about by US policy. Among these are the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and the situations with Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. The Kingdom's foreign policy has made a notable shift from passivity to greater activism on behalf of Saudi interests.

The achievements have not just been in foreign affairs. Domestically there have been remarkable changes too. There has been progress in expanding religious tolerance by bringing the Shia community into the formal National Dialogue and through acceptance of public displays of Shia worship in the Eastern Province.

The gradual expansion of the authority of the Majlis ash Shoura, the experiment with municipal elections, the inclusion of women in many more public activities such as the reservation for them of a third of civil service posts, all these are marks of a leader who is clearly determined to build a more inclusive political system.

We have seen a series of, I would say, truly revolutionary acts on the economic and ideological front. King Abdullah led Saudi Arabia into the World Trade Organization. Adopting the WTO regulations, in place of the idiosyncratic and -- from a foreign investment perspective -- quite perplexing rules for commerce of the past, signaled that for the first time that Saudi Arabia joins the world, accepting globalization and the challenge that it represents.

Similarly the investment of oil revenues from expanded production and higher prices in the Kingdom's infrastructure is clearly intended to boost Saudi Arabia's transition to a different kind of economy. It will be one in which a great deal more will be invested in value added. One example is the petrochemical industry where the Kingdom enjoys obvious advantages in supplying feedstock for production as well as the cheap energy needed to fuel the manufacturing process.

Diversification is one element of the change. The investment in infrastructure includes the economic mega-cities and large scale projects like the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology [KAUST]. KAUST is an explicit effort to resurrect the House of Wisdom -- the focal point of early Islam that made it the world leader in science and technology. For the first 300 years Islamic institutions in Baghdad like that were responsible for advancements like recovering the Greek classics; inventing algebra, modern astronomy and a good deal of modern chemistry; and developing other technologies that clearly put the Islamic world in the forefront of human progress. When reactionary religious people and events culminating in the destruction of Baghdad closed that era, it marked a period of stagnation and eclipse for Islamic and Arab culture that the King is clearly determined to reverse.

So Saudi Arabia may seem one of the least probable places to which you would look for an Islamic renaissance, but the King seems to be determined to achieve one. I had the honor of attending the KAUST inaugural ceremony and listening to the King's remarks. I would say his words and works are a commitment to a more enlightened future for both Arabs and Muslims.

SUSRIS: How will the economic reforms, especially the mega-cities and KAUST affect the ground rules for social reforms?

Freeman: There is a commitment to a natural reform process in the social sphere. The inaugural ceremony for KAUST saw women enter the hall through the same entrance as men. They shared the hall and the ceremony and the dais with the male members of the royal family.

That was obviously a deliberate, symbolic gesture in the direction of a more gender equal society. The stated purposes of KAUST made that very clear. But I believe your question can be answered by the King's decision to entrust the development of KAUST and that particular area to Saudi Aramco. That company has functioned as an enclave within the more liberal eastern province and its environment is more like that of the international community.

Saudi saleswomen and cusstomers at the King Abdullah Economic City exhibit center. (Photo: Patrick Ryan) There clearly is an effort being made to rebalance and modernize Saudi ways. It is being done in an evolutionary way. The Saudis, I think quite correctly and skillfully, have traditionally managed very broad change by doing it by degrees rather than in a sudden, across the board way. There is clearly an effort now being made to facilitate evolutionary change in Saudi society as well as in the economy. There are a series of things going on in the Kingdom and Saudi Arabia is very much a part of the world, no longer as it once was, probably the most isolated society in the world. The Kingdom is looking to become more cosmopolitan, never to abandon its traditions, certainly not to compromise its religious principles but to adapt these to modern conditions.

SUSRIS: The business-to-business connections have always been a key component of the relationship, but may be showing signs of strain. American businesses' share of participation in the Saudi economy is slipping. What is your read on what's behind developments in this area and the prospects for business ties?

Freeman: A great deal depends here on two things, obviously the management of procedures -- visas and transit through airports, ports for foreign visitors in the United States -- is a huge matter affecting our future generally, not just the future of U.S.-Saudi relations, but we have to deal with that as Americans.

We cannot go on giving the cold shoulder to the world and then roughing up those who actually succeed in getting visas and leaving them so angered that they don't wish to come back.

On the Saudi side, as the King Abdullah Economic City suggests, there is in fact competition with other regional centers including the UAE, especially Dubai, which have much more efficient and friendly entry procedures and are far more open to the outside world than Saudi Arabia. Anyone who has transited a Saudi airport in recent times, unless they were welcomed in a VIP lounge, will tell you that it is an extraordinarily unpleasant experience to enter the Kingdom and that its not easy to get a visa to begin with. This is a problem as well.

Saudi Arabia traditionally has had this major impediment to expansion of business ties abroad, not just with the United States. It has been improved somewhat, but not much. The United States has traditionally had a much better system but in some ways we have fallen back to something approaching the Saudi level. So I think we both have to work on these issues of easier access to each other.

SUSRIS: American business people have cited the security advisories issued by the U.S. Government as among their concerns. What are your views on the security environment?

Freeman: The Saudis have done a very good job, frankly, in dealing with their internal terrorist problem. There is an obvious problem when people who have little familiarity with the Kingdom are making judgments on the basis of whatever erroneous impressions they derive from other ignorant people in the United States about Saudi Arabia. So corporate legal counsels continue to be a brake on investment. But, in the end, the Gulf is going to be a place in which more and more of the worlds financial liquidity will be concentrated and that will have a large attraction. Among destinations in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia will be particularly attractive because of growing energy shortages and the prospect of continued high oil production and escalating prices for oil and gas in the future.

American businesses and the American financial sector will not be able to ignore Saudi Arabia to the extent that they did in the immediate aftermath of 9-11. So I think there are some natural corrections that will take place. Money is an attractive force and the Kingdom will have more money in the future, and that will result in more realistic attitudes on the part of many Americans than we have seen.

SUSRIS: Can you talk about America's foreign competition for trade and investment as Saudi Arabia's economy is booming, especially interest from China?

Freeman: First of all, the prospect for increased trade and investment between China and Saudi Arabia is very high. Chinese companies -- construction companies, engineering companies, companies that manufacture things, including automobiles -- will be increasingly active in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf as time goes on.

Governor Dabbagh of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority is very far sighted in trying to create positions to facilitate that investment. There is no doubt people in Saudi Arabia, and many Americans will see this as a sign of competition of some sort but I don't think that's how the Chinese see it and I think it's a mistake to see it that way. From the Saudi point of view it is not so much distancing Saudi Arabia from the United States as it is bringing others closer so that the Kingdom has a wider circle of friends and partners than it has had.

SUSRIS: You wrote an essay, "Impressions of Arabia," that sounded alarm bells about "resignation and lowered expectations" among Arabs concerned about American estrangement. Are there any reasons for optimism in the relationship?

Freeman: The underlying reality of the interests that tie us together are such that from time to time we will have to make serious efforts to repair the relationship. It is not in a very good condition at the moment, outside the arena of cooperation against terrorists where it is very healthy and vigorous.

We cannot, Americans cannot, afford to ignore a principal source of the world's energy supply. Nor should we ignore the homeland of Islam and the location of its two holy cities or the moral authority that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has within the Arab and Islamic contexts.

If America is going to remain a global power, as I believe we will remain, then we will be active militarily, economically, culturally, commercially in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia is by far the largest and most important partner as well as the largest geographic expanse in the Gulf. These things will tend to push us together.

We share quite a number of interests and if we could find a way of resolving some of the rough spots on U.S.-Arab relations, generally, but in particular the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, then I think the way would be clear for a great warming of this relationship.

I don't see it as without hope. But having said that I think many on both sides have very low expectations for the relationship, and a good many on both sides, who had been making efforts to promote a stronger relationship, have given up.

SUSRIS: What should Americans be thinking about Saudi Arabia these days?

Freeman: The key is, as always, to not allow yourself to make assumptions about a place, about people, that you fail to test against realities on the ground. Saudi Arabia under King Abdullah has become a more open place, not just in terms of debate within the Kingdom and expanded roles for different groups or genders. My hope is that the Kingdom will be more open to foreigners and there will be an opportunity for Americans to experience it firsthand and to benefit from the correction of erroneous views that firsthand experiences always facilitate.

I hope that the evolution toward greater openness in the Kingdom will result in more access for the international press, and the American press in particular. The Saudis have some good stories to tell, and unfortunately much of what is told about the Kingdom is bad.

The proposition is that the Saudis have the ability, if they are prepared to take the risks, to allow foreign journalists and others to go to the Kingdom. If such foreigners make mistakes in interpreting the Kingdom, at least they will be making smaller mistakes on the basis of greater information.

SUSRIS: In what ways will the political season – the presidential election – be a factor in the relationship?

Freeman: The political cycle here does not lend itself to grand new initiatives and it will be a while before whoever is elected in 2008 will be able to focus on this relationship. It is too important for the next president not to do so.

I think the Saudis need to be working too. They should not give up on the United States. They should not write us off. If they don't wish to come here for whatever reasons, then they should consider opening their own society more to us so that there are more Americans who know the Kingdom and who can speak to other Americans to help them gain a more accurate, favorable picture of Saudi society.

SUSRIS: As always thank you for your time.

ABOUT AMB. CHAS W. FREEMAN, JR.

Ambassador Chas. W. Freeman, Jr. succeeded Senator George McGovern as President of the Middle East Policy Council on December 1, 1997. Ambassador Freeman was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 1993-94, earning the highest public service awards of the Department of Defense for his roles in designing a NATO-centered post-Cold War European security system and in reestablishing defense and military relations with China. He served as U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm).

Ambassador Freeman Bio

The Middle East Policy Council

The MEPC, since its formation in 1981, has provided political analysis of issues involving the greater Middle East. Through its programs, publications and Web site, the Council strives to ensure that a full range of U.S. interests and views are considered by policy makers. We challenge the conventional wisdom, ask the difficult questions, encourage a wide spectrum of views, provide forums to stimulate thinking. The Council strives to fulfill these objectives through three major activities:

Middle East Policy - a quarterly journal of political, economic and social analysis.

A Capitol Hill Conference Series - forums for members of Congress, their staffs, federal government officials, foreign policy experts and the media.

Workshops for high school teachers - daylong training sessions to build a fact-based foundation for educating America's youth about the Arab world and Islam.

Source: MEPC.org

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