The Biden administration has launched a complex initiative to normalize Saudi-Israeli relations and impose distance between Saudi Arabia and China, reportedly in exchange for U.S. assistance to a Saudi nuclear program and security assurances that could entail the U.S. military defending the Saudi kingdom. Although the basic elements of this ambitious gambit are clear, little is known about the all important details or the long term implications for U.S. interests.
QI has assembled a panel to assess the administration’s objectives, Saudi and Israeli interest in a deal, the domestic political factors in all three participating states, the potential nature of a U.S. security guarantee, Saudi fuel enrichment in the context of U.S. nuclear assistance, and the degree to which normalization would change the Middle East or reflect changes that have already taken place.
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