The Saudi Alliance and the False Claims of the American Establishment Regarding Autocracy and Authoritarianism

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/09/lockheed-military-manufacturing-saudi/

Biden and others in the American Establishment have sought to cast the new Cold War in terms of the Liberal Democracies versus the Authoritarian States. This claim is as farcical as the Capitalist Free World versus the Communist Bloc of the first Cold War. The truth is always far more complicated.

In many cases the allies of the Soviet Union were not embracing Marxism but were in fact resisting Western imperialism. In other cases because they resisted Western overtures (and sometimes aggression) which would lead to domination, the said nations were eventually forced to seek aid from the West's enemy – the Soviet Union.

For its part, the West overthrew dozens of democratically elected governments, corrupted elections, assassinated leaders, and backed military dictatorships when convenient. In the Middle East the US installed the authoritarian rule of the Shah of Iran and later became a close ally with the highly anti-liberal Saudi regime.

The US has long collaborated with the House of Saud and yet this latest bit of news marks a noteworthy evolution in the relationship. Not only is the US involved in another massive arms deal, they are in fact helping the Saudis develop an export market. This seems counter-intuitive as it will make the Saudis into rivals and yet Washington is often looking for proxies. When it is politically inconvenient to openly sell weapons to a particular government, the US relies on others to do so. Israel has long served in this capacity and it would seem the Saudis are being groomed for the same role.

While the functional ruler bin Salman (MBS) has generated some optimism with regard to social liberalisation in Saudi Arabia, no one can really argue he's some kind of social liberal. Far from it. His regime can't be quite oppressive and even murderous toward those who resist it – as most famously seen in the murky Khashoggi affair and in the recent (March 2022) mass execution. The murdered journalist was in fact connected to a larger and mostly ignored context and yet the episode testified in very clear terms that the bin Salman regime will not be intimidated by international condemnation. The US for its part has no fundamental problem with committing murder. It's simply a question of packaging and public perception.

The Saudi-US alliance is solid and demonstrates that for all the bluster about liberal democracy and authoritarianism – these are not the real issues. The context and conflicts with Russia, China, and Tehran are about a set of larger geopolitical concerns surrounding questions of hegemony, resources, and empire. The framing is propaganda for the masses and fodder for the Establishment media. The US will happily embrace and even install authoritarian regimes when it is convenient to do so, when the interests of Washington are served.

This is not to vindicate Moscow or Beijing. They are corrupt and disgusting regimes. The only difference is they are less hypocritical and spend less time cultivating myths about who they are and what they represent.