What should we do about Saudi Arabia? Posted by Shadi Hamid

A $20 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia and other gulf states is in the works. Is such a deal a good idea? And what should the Bush administration do instead? I've co-written a piece with Stephen McInerney (director of advocacy at POMED) attempting to answering these questions. The article is out now at The New Republic. Make sure to give it a read. It's an urgent issue - we still have time to block (or add conditions) to the deal, or at least parts of it. Here's a teaser from the piece:

But the President's certification comes amid debate over a much more consequential form of assistance to Saudi Arabia --a deal to sell $20 billion worth of arms to the kingdom and other Gulf states over ten years. First proposed in July and currently pending further action by the White House, the terms have met opposition in Congress, where concerns about the real level of Saudi commitment to fighting terrorism remain. A letter by Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY), signed by a bipartisan group of 114 members of Congress, argues, "Saudi Arabia has not behaved like an ally of the United States. They have exported fighters and suicide bombers to the war in Iraq. They have provided funding for terrorist activities throughout the world."

But this, and most other recent criticisms of Saudi Arabia, omits what may be the most troubling aspect of the country's behavior and the most threatening to long-term U.S. interests: The appalling state of human rights and the lack of meaningful political reform in the kingdom. The problem is not that the Saudi regime directly encourages terrorist activity, as Weiner's letter suggests, but rather that the political situation in the country provides the conditions that spur disenchanted Saudis to violence. Surprisingly few U.S. politicians--and none of the leading presidential candidates--have raised this concern in response to the arms deal, even though Saudi repression isn't exactly a secret.

Well, what should we about it?

We have leverage, and we should use it. First, all arms sales should be contingent on the implementation of the promised educational and judicial reforms. Second, the United States should require progress on political reform, beginning with greater freedoms of press and assembly, and allowing public dissent on policy matters. Beyond this, deadlines should be set for long-awaited Shura (Consultative) Council elections, followed by benchmarks for the steady evolution of the council from an advisory role to a genuine legislative body. Third, transparency and fairness in the justice system, even when dealing with terror suspects, should be required. Such measures can be enforced much as Saudi cooperation on counterterrorism efforts is maintained today--through a certification process mandated by law.

Making assistance, and particularly large weapons deals, conditional upon clear, political reform benchmarks will not only offer hope for the beleaguered Saudi population, but also chip away at the repression that breeds the very terrorists whom we need the Saudis' help in fighting. Only then can Saudi Arabia be rightly considered a true ally in the fight against terror.

Comments

Or, we could act on the theory that religious tolerance is a prerequisite for a stable democratic society, and require the distribution of Bibles to every Saudi family as a condition of American exports of any kind to the Kingdom. And let's mandate a ban on the revolting custom of plural marriage while we're at it! Later we can do the other stuff too.

It might, of course, also be worth considering whether pumping more gold-plated weapons systems into the Middle East is such a good idea in the first place. Such consideration might require that we put faith-based schemes for transforming other societies on the back burner fo