Both want to “save face” after Israel’s attack on Qatar and remind fellow Muslims about the importance of more intra-Ummah military-technical cooperation, not set the stage for an Israeli-Pakistani nuclear standoff or Saudi Arabia imposing an oil embargo on India like some suspect.
Well done. Please address the matter of what it would take for KSA to start buying Russian and Chinese equipment at your convenience. That kind of change seems impossible in the near future. The KSA royal house has to face its domestic political pressure and prevent civic unrest. At the same time, the bulk of the royal house is probably very much pro-USA and prefers the status quo. Maybe the best we can expect from KSA is that it drags its feet on the so-called Abrams Accord.
The KSA will do no such thing. The Saudis like their western trophy properties, their western bank accounts, their western assets, their shiny western toys.
It’s easy to brush off these convoluted Middle East /South Asia agreements, but the belligerents have nuclear weapons and mistakes can be made. Russia’s use of hypersonic, conventionally-armed missiles like “Oreshnik” point to the archaic nature of nukes. They served as an effective deterrent for decades, but their proliferation is out of control. (I’ll take my rose-coloured glasses off now…)
Thank you for helping us navigate through this tangled web Andrew.
“Both want to “save face” after Israel’s attack on Qatar and remind fellow Muslims about the importance of more intra-Ummah military-technical cooperation, not set the stage for an Israeli-Pakistani nuclear standoff or Saudi Arabia imposing an oil embargo on India like some suspect.”
Although both parties are among the United States’ most important allies in the region, the SMDA is unlikely to alter the existing strategic status quo.
Since the attack on Qatar overflow Saudi Arabia, the Saudis either were incompetent or in on it.
Similarly, Israeli aircraft were refueled by RAF tankers out of Doha and the US manned air defenses there did nothing. The US was in it up to the hilt.
Give me a break. Qatar is arguably America’s most important ally looking into the future because LNG is now more important than oil. Qatar is a country of 300k citizens that needs help making sure its tankers can reach their destination. Qatar could theoretically have an air force because it would be a purely defensive force with drones and lasers that won’t require a lot of personnel…but a navy to escort and respond to threats on a global scale would have to be tens of thousands of personnel which would be impossible for a country of 300k. So Qatar needs our navy and considering America is the leading LNG exporter our relationship with them is complimentary. So we aren’t going to undermine our relationship with Qatar to help Netanyahu remain in power because the Hamas threat was degraded months ago.
Why people are conveniently ignoring Iran where US , Israel and Saudi interest converge. Pakistan is just a rental state
Hello Andrew. Good job
Funny: have you seen in AMC all those orgasmic claims about the "strategic defeat of USA" in this Saoudi-Pakistanese treaty?
Unbelievable. They really like to pay themselves with words.
Well done. Please address the matter of what it would take for KSA to start buying Russian and Chinese equipment at your convenience. That kind of change seems impossible in the near future. The KSA royal house has to face its domestic political pressure and prevent civic unrest. At the same time, the bulk of the royal house is probably very much pro-USA and prefers the status quo. Maybe the best we can expect from KSA is that it drags its feet on the so-called Abrams Accord.
The KSA will do no such thing. The Saudis like their western trophy properties, their western bank accounts, their western assets, their shiny western toys.
As long as their western masters keep their regime intact.
It’s easy to brush off these convoluted Middle East /South Asia agreements, but the belligerents have nuclear weapons and mistakes can be made. Russia’s use of hypersonic, conventionally-armed missiles like “Oreshnik” point to the archaic nature of nukes. They served as an effective deterrent for decades, but their proliferation is out of control. (I’ll take my rose-coloured glasses off now…)
Thank you for helping us navigate through this tangled web Andrew.
“Both want to “save face” after Israel’s attack on Qatar and remind fellow Muslims about the importance of more intra-Ummah military-technical cooperation, not set the stage for an Israeli-Pakistani nuclear standoff or Saudi Arabia imposing an oil embargo on India like some suspect.”
Although both parties are among the United States’ most important allies in the region, the SMDA is unlikely to alter the existing strategic status quo.
Since the attack on Qatar overflow Saudi Arabia, the Saudis either were incompetent or in on it.
Similarly, Israeli aircraft were refueled by RAF tankers out of Doha and the US manned air defenses there did nothing. The US was in it up to the hilt.
Give me a break. Qatar is arguably America’s most important ally looking into the future because LNG is now more important than oil. Qatar is a country of 300k citizens that needs help making sure its tankers can reach their destination. Qatar could theoretically have an air force because it would be a purely defensive force with drones and lasers that won’t require a lot of personnel…but a navy to escort and respond to threats on a global scale would have to be tens of thousands of personnel which would be impossible for a country of 300k. So Qatar needs our navy and considering America is the leading LNG exporter our relationship with them is complimentary. So we aren’t going to undermine our relationship with Qatar to help Netanyahu remain in power because the Hamas threat was degraded months ago.