GZERO World Clips
Biden-MBS meeting was "total win" for Saudis, says expert
Biden-MBS Meeting Was “Total Win” for Saudis, Says Expert | GZERO World
July 21, 2022
US President Joe Biden didn't get much out of his recent — and very controversial — trip to Saudi Arabia. Why?
His team didn't do their homework by getting the Saudis to agree on stuff in advance, says Bernard Haykel, a professor at Princeton University and confidante of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
"This was a total win for the Saudis," Haykel tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Indeed, Biden's pledges to never allow Iran to get the bomb or defend Saudi Arabia from an attack are all "music to Saudi Arabia's ears."
What's more, Haykel adds, the Saudis "were able to show that they have tremendous convening power" by bringing in all the Gulf leaders, thus demonstrating that Riyadh is the most important player there — and the partner you need for political and energy stability.
From Your Site Articles
- What We're Watching: Biden-MBS fist bump, Xi in Xinjiang, Kenya ... ›
- Crow on the menu during Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia - GZERO Media ›
- Biden's Saudi Arabia visit is more about strategic partnership than ... ›
- Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia is about more than pumping oil - GZERO ... ›
- Saudi Arabia’s repressive power politics - GZERO Media ›
- Activist Loujain al-Hathloul is far from free in MBS's reformed Saudi Arabia - GZERO Media ›
- How MBS consolidated power in Saudi Arabia - GZERO Media ›
- Iran: lynchpin in the Saudi-Israeli relationship - GZERO Media ›
- From Biden’s pariah to core partner: US Saudi visit a win for MBS - GZERO Media ›
More For You
When the US shift from defending the postwar rules-based order to challenging it, what kind of global system emerges? CFR President Michael Froman joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World Podcast to discuss the global order under Trump's second term.
Most Popular
Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.
- YouTube
At the 62nd Munich Security Conference, GZERO’s Tony Maciulis spoke with Benedikt Franke, Vice Chairman and CEO of the Munich Security Conference, to discuss whether the post-1945 global order is under strain or already unraveling.
- YouTube
At the Munich Security Conference, the mood is clear: Europe no longer assumes the United States will lead. In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer reports from Munich, where this year’s theme, “Under Destruction,” reflects growing anxiety that the US itself is destabilizing the transatlantic alliance it once anchored.
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.