This article was written by Karen E. Young, and originally published by Arabian Gulf Business Insight.
When President Biden visits Saudi Arabia there will be a temptation to focus a dialogue on the immediate problem of high oil prices and the add-on effects to inflation in the US domestic economy.
There is a great deal of anticipation about an impending ask on Saudi and Emirati oil production. President Biden is of course a politician, one who has an eye on the mid-term elections and a relative short-term view of recent US-Saudi points of tension.
He also has a knack for the occasional off-the-cuff remark that could easily be interpreted as flippant, especially to a sensitive Saudi leadership.
His animosity towards the Saudi Crown Prince has the potential to create a stand-off in front of the cameras, which will do nothing for oil prices and only undermine the goal of regional security cooperation.
The opportunity of this visit is to take the long view, especially in energy security.
Photo by Reuters/Andrej Isakovic
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