Saudi Arabia's Accession to the WTO: Is a "Revolution" Brewing?
Middle East Policy Council Capitol Hill Conference Series on US Middle East Policy
U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
January 13, 2006

Ambassador Chas Freeman
President, Middle East Policy Council

We've come together today to discuss a neglected topic, one on which there are more spurious opinions than facts out there. And that is, Saudi Arabia and its accession to the WTO. Saudi Arabia is a unique place, and the impact of its accession to the WTO is likely to be enormous. Saudi Arabia has, because of its history and its oil wealth, been able to make up its own rules for investment and foreign trade, and to play by its own rules. But it is now embracing international norms for the first time. It's doing so in its own interest and in furtherance of King Abdullah's effort to promote reform in the kingdom. WTO accession really marks the end of an era in many respects. That was an era where some people quipped that the national motto in Saudi Arabia was "progress without change." This era has come to an end and much change is now in store.

We're here today to explore some of those changes, the nature of the changes we can expect in Saudi Arabia, the impact of WTO accession on Saudi-American relations, and on U.S. interests in particular, and the kinds of socioeconomic transformations and changes in Saudi Arabia's political economy that a shift to globally-derived rules for the conduct of investment and commerce seem certain to bring about. We'll be talking about who wins and who loses by this sudden move by the Saudis to join the world. We'll be talking about what impact there is on issues of concern, both to ordinary Saudis and foreigners living or doing business in the kingdom. And I'm referring specifically to issues of the possible abuse of privilege born of wealth or title or corruption, which has been a serious problem in the kingdom for a long time.

Assembling a panel to discuss these issues is not as easy as you might think. There are actually more people who specialize in the study of Tibet in the United States than who specialize in the study of Saudi Arabia, and it's easier to get a visa and to travel to Tibet also. So I think we're particularly privileged to have such a fine panel, and I'd like to thank the people at the Middle East Policy Council who worked very hard to put it together. There was a brief moment when it didn't look as though we could actually assemble enough expertise to discuss the issue in the way that it deserves.

But we do have a great panel today. I'll just say that we're going to go in the order of the speakers on the program. And we will start therefore with Bud Clatanoff who has just celebrated his freedom from many years of work at USTR, and is therefore for the first time able to say what he thinks and promises that he will do so. He will be followed by Chris Parlin who is a lawyer here in Washington with a very distinguished firm, which represented the Saudis in the negotiations with USTR, and who is therefore conversant with all of the technical issues concerned. Bob Jordan, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from immediately after 9/11 - not an easy period - did a wonderful job in my view as ambassador, and we're very honored to have you here, Bob. Charlie Kestenbaum, an old friend who served as commercial councilor in Riyadh and many other places in the region, and who is now engaged in due diligence - that means finding out where the corruption is, I guess - we're delighted to have you here, Charlie. And finally, Jean-Francois Seznec who is an adjunct professor at Columbia, but manages to somehow live in Annapolis while doing that, and who is an expert on the financial relationships with the kingdom internationally.

So these are the panelists. 

Presentations provided in separate SUSRIS IOIs:

• William Clatanoff - Former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative for Labor

• C. Christopher Parlin - Partner, Loeffler Tuggey Pauerstein Rosenthal, LLP

• Robert Jordan - Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

• Charles Kestenbaum - Former Regional Director, U.S. Dept. Of Commerce

• Jean-Francois Seznec - Adjunct Professor, Columbia University's Middle East Institute

• Moderator/Discussant - Chas. W. Freeman, Jr. - President, Middle East Policy Council

• Questions and Answers

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.

KNOWLEDGE, INSIGHT AND PERSPECTIVE - THESE ARE THE PATHS TO UNDERSTANDING. THEY ALSO ARE GOALS OF THE MIDDLE EAST POLICY COUNCIL.

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On SUSRIS

• Defining Interests and a Changing Relationship - Ambassador Chas Freeman Interview - Part I - SUSRIS Interview Series - Oct. 29, 2004

• U.S.-Saudi Relations: The Path Ahead - Ambassador Chas Freeman Interview - Part II - SUSRIS Interview Series - Oct. 30, 2004

WTO Accession:

• Accession of Saudi Arabia to the WTO - SUSRIS

• World Trade Organization Accession - SUSRIS IOI - Nov. 10, 2005

• The Implications of WTO Membership: A View from the Kingdom - SUSRIS IOI - Oct. 30, 2005

• World Trade Organization Accession: Saudi Arabia Gets "Green Light" - SUSRIS IOI - Oct. 28, 2005

• WTO Accession: One Step Closer - SUSRIS IOI - Oct. 12, 2005

Capitol Hill Series:

• 35th in the Capitol Hill Conference Series on U.S. Middle East Policy Conference Panel, January 23, 2004 Saudi Arabia: Enemy or Friend?

• David Aufhauser, Former General Counsel, Department of the Treasury

• Frank Anderson, Former Chief, Near East and South Asia Division, CIA

• David Long, Retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer -- Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Morocco and Jordan

• Nathaniel Kern, President, Foreign Reports, Inc.

• Hussein Shobokshi, President, Shobokshi Development & Trading; Managing Director, Okaz Printing and Publishing