Editor's Note:
The use of a matrimonial metaphor to explain U.S.-Saudi relations is not foreign to the pages of SUSRIS.
Middle East Policy Council President Chas Freeman, who served as America's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm days, was quite descriptive in portraying the Kingdom's infatuation with other partners in remarks to the World Affairs Council of Northern California
(shared in
SUSRIS), "I want to speak with you this morning about foreign affairs, by which, of course, I mean failing marriages, extramarital relationships, and instances of bigamy, maybe even polygamy. It's pretty racy stuff compared to most diplomacy.." He referred to U.S.-Saudi ties as being, "..locked in a Catholic marriage. But they are Muslims and they don't have to divorce us to take a second wife. Hence their romances with China and India."
The top American diplomat in Saudi Arabia, Ford M. Fraker, is also comfortable comparing the Washington-Riyadh connection in that fashion, "..it�s like a good marriage. You go up and down and you go through good times and bad times. But fundamentally the reasons you engaged in the first place are validated and confirmed, so you carry on. All the time you�re actually planting deeper roots in different areas."
Today we're very pleased to offer for your consideration our exclusive conversation with Ford Fraker. His service as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, since May 2007, follows over 30 years experience in Middle East banking (bio below).
Ambassador Fraker talked to SUSRIS on the sidelines of the
Arab-US Policymakers Conference in Washington,
D.C., on October 30, 2008 where he joined three former U.S. ambassadors to the Kingdom to talk about U.S.-Saudi
relations.
In part one of this three part interview Ambassador Fraker gives his perspective on the state of the marriage. Part two, covering business relations and visas, will be in your email inbox on Wednesday morning and part three will be provided next Monday.
SUSRIS
EXCLUSIVE
Managing the Marriage
A Conversation with Ambassador Ford Fraker - Part 1
SUSRIS:
Thank you, Ambassador Fraker, for taking time to talk with us today. Let�s start with your assessment of the importance and health of the relationship.
AMBASSADOR FORD M. FRAKER: This is a 75-year relationship. One of the things that really impressed me when I arrived was the depth and breadth of the different relationships we had with the Saudis across a whole range of activities. I�m absolutely sure, that that�s why the relationship did not break after 9/11.
As a banker, one of the things I love telling my diplomatic friends is that in 1933 the United States and Saudi Arabia signed the oil concession agreement first and then, six months later, formal diplomatic relations were began. So business has always led diplomacy in Saudi Arabia.
Then overlay the fact that 25 percent of the world�s known oil reserves � about 260 billion barrels -- are located in the Kingdom�s Eastern Province. What many don�t know is there is probably another 500 to 700 billion barrels there as well. So anyone who thinks that oil is going to be part of our hydrocarbon future has to be convinced that Saudi Arabia is going to be leading the way in that regard and will remain the most important player in that market.
SUSRIS: Has the relationship gotten past the 9/11 aftershocks? What is the legacy of that period?
FRAKER: We are seven years past 9/11, which was truly a tragic event. From the intelligence we�ve collected since then, we know for a fact that 9/11 was a deliberate attempt by Osama bin Laden to split the Saudi-US relationship.
Bin Laden�s primary objective was Saudi Arabia and the moderate Muslim countries, not America. He knew full well that he would have no chance at striking Saudi Arabia effectively, or the other moderates, if they were closely allied to America.
So every time I sit with a senator or a congressman, and the phrase �15 of the 19� is brought up as a reason for not doing something we should be doing, then bin Laden is winning. Both countries are being manipulated by someone who had a political agenda.
The message should be to understand what happened in a real context and that Saudi Arabia is not a country of terrorists that hate us and want to kill us. In fact it is the opposite. They are about as pro-American as any country in that part of the world can be. Fifty percent of the Majlis Ash-Shura, the Saudi Consultative Council, have been educated in the United States. Seventy percent of the Council of Ministers, non-royal, have been educated in the United States. Almost every one of the senior ministers has been educated in the United States. People don�t understand the ties created by living and studying in the United States.
SUSRIS: Among many of the Saudis who are pro-American the recent period was very frustrating. One could sense a fatigue in trying to get the generations old connections back on track. It was probably best summed up by a businessman who said that America sometimes makes it hard to be its friend. How do you see it?
FRAKER:
I use the analogy with the Saudis that it�s like a good marriage. You go up and down and you go through good times and bad times. But fundamentally the reasons you engaged in the first place are validated and confirmed, so you carry on. All the time you�re actually planting deeper roots in different areas.
What has happened since 9/11 is Americans and Saudis have decided for all the obvious reasons that to reengage is the most important thing given the shared strategic objectives.
In many ways the roots of the relationship have had to be reaffirmed, and I think everyone has decided the reasons we were friends still apply. The fundamentals are still in place. King Abdullah has been very proactive in moving the relationship forward particularly in the areas of security and counter terrorism.
SUSRIS: During that rough patch in the marriage, as you put it, the Saudis expanded their role and voice in the region and in the world, taking leadership in crisis management and expanding political and economic ties, especially in Asia. How is this more independent, assertive Saudi Arabia viewed?
FRAKER: We need to interject a much more balanced approach on how we deal with them. I see the Saudis beginning to reach out in many ways. Ambassador Al Jubeir will also be a bridge in the relationship, which is a plus for us at many different levels.
SUSRIS: Anyone who considers the relationship important must wince when media pundits and politicians discuss Saudi Arabia in terms of simplistic stereotypes. How do misinformed views affect your work?
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 FRAKER:. There is so much misunderstanding and lack of knowledge, which is why I encourage everyone, especially government officials, to visit the Kingdom. That�s why I said people think I should be spending 80 percent of my time in the United States and 20 percent of my time in Saudi Arabia because most of the problems in the relationship are here and not in the Kingdom.
The problem is that in two quick, pithy lines you can absolutely destroy Saudi Arabia but the counter to those two lines requires at least a 20-minute explanation. It�s so difficult to engage anybody for the length of time that�s needed to help them understand what the real issues are.
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That�s a problem � the consistently negative image � that goes back to the �Come on guys, in 30 years you haven�t figured out how to do the right public relations here. To tell your own story.� It�s a very tough challenge. You know, not very many journalists come out to the Kingdom either. I don�t know why.
SUSRIS: The Strategic Dialogue between Washington and Riyadh was launched after the 2005 Crawford, Texas meeting of President Bush and King Abdullah, then Crown Prince. How is it going? Is it still a viable process?
FRAKER: I think it is. We were planning a Strategic Dialogue meeting in November, co-chaired by Secretary Rice and Prince Saud, to convene the various working groups and have their reports. That is not going to happen now. However, the working groups continue and are doing good work particularly in the areas of counterintelligence and security.
The real importance of the Strategic Dialogue is that it institutionalized the relationship in a way that I think is very healthy. Traditionally the relationship hinged so much on personalities. This structure, which I assume will stay in place, and I�m certainly going to recommend that it does, will insure that the important issues are being addressed in an ongoing, structured format.
Next: In the second part of our three part conversation with America's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ford M. Fraker, we talk about the business relationship between the United States and the Kingdom, the environment for American investment, and his work in breaking the visa logjam. Look for that SUSRIS Exclusive on Wednesday.
About Ambassador Ford M. Fraker
Ford M. Fraker was sworn in on April 11, 2007 as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At the time of his nomination by President George W. Bush, Ambassador Fraker was serving as Chairman of the Trinity Group Limited, a private investment banking firm in the United Kingdom and as consultant for Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation in Boston, MA.
Ambassador Fraker graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He has served as a banker in the Middle East for more than 30 years. He began his career with Chemical Bank where he worked from 1972 to 1979. He worked in Lebanon, the
UAE, and Bahrain, ending as a Vice President and Regional Manager for the bank�s Bahrain office. He joined the Saudi International Bank in 1979 and worked for SIB until 1991, holding positions of increasing management responsibility in the bank�s General Banking, Credit and Client Development units. When he left SIB in 1991, Ambassador Fraker was serving on the bank�s Management Committee.
Ambassador Fraker founded Fraker & Co. in 1991, and in 1993, he joined MeesPierson Investment Finance (UK) Limited, where he was the Managing Director responsible for placing U.S. and European investment products with European and Middle Eastern institutional and private investors. In 1997, he co-founded Trinity Group Limited and continued to serve as Managing Director and Chairman until his nomination by President Bush.
Ambassador Fraker was born in Princeton, NJ and speaks French and Arabic.
Source: U.S. State Dept.
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