Those sites are newspapers that are being sponsored by Riyadh have been pretty ecstatic in evaluating the outcome the above mentioned visited. We are being told that this was a “milestone” event that would make it history, as for the three-sided summit that brought together Washington’s representatives, Saudi royal family members and the leaders of a five dozen countries of the Muslim world together it is being advertised in those sources as “triumphant.”
According to the largest Arabic Internet portal “Elaph”, Trump’s visit raises the kingdom “to the throne of leadership” among the moderate Arab-Muslim countries and lays the foundations for a new regional order, when new alliances are to be formed across the Middle East that are going to be stronger than those that existed before them.
At the same time, less enthusiastic and more down-to-earth assessments of this trip have been voiced by a number of analysts and experts that are widely-known across the region. In particular, they remind that during his election campaign, Trump repeatedly urged the Saudi kingdom to pay for expenses that Washington has been suffering in order to “protect” Riyadh from external threats for decades.
Back then, the aspiring president to be stressed that such protection should not be taken for granted, this formula was repeated by Trump later on at a NATO summit in Brussels.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar is convinced that Donald Trump is obsessed with the idea of investing Riyadh’s revenues from oil trade in the US economy by signing large contracts on the sale of US weapons to Riyadh.
The deals signed during the visit under the motto “more jobs for Americans” marks a new chapter in the bilateral relations between the US and Saudi Arabia. They exceeded the already optimistic expectations of the US military-industrial complex, which would support the 45th US President in his struggle against the Congress and other political enemies.
These deals also satisfy Washington’s desire to show its competitiveness in the ongoing struggle with China and Russia, as the latter have recently been strengthened their positions in the Arab world pretty rapidly, commentators say.
However, as it’s been noted by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafd, Trump was the only winner at the negotiation table in Riyadh. Within a couple of hours he managed to sign a whole package of profitable contracts, while describing all the enemies of Israel as terrorists.
He washed his hands, saying that each regime in the region should bear full responsibility to save the civilized world from the “extremism of its youth”, while failing to recognize Washington’s responsibility in the ongoing regional events.
As for the possible formation of some Arab military alliance with the United States being a part of it, a number of Middle Eastern players seem to be fairly concerned about such prospects. It is foretold that such an alliance of Sunni states, acting primarily against Iran, that is being demonized as the main enemy of all Arabs, will become a trap for those foolish enough to sign it.
The direct result one can await from this is the spread of inter-confessional feud in the region. In this context, analysts say, one could have the impression that Arabs and Muslims found themselves dependent on Washington in the unfortunate period of time when they are unable to understand the logics of the sitting US president.
The Az-Zaman newspaper that is being published in London doubts that the Arab-Muslim summit has brought anything new to the table. It has only reestablished certain truths and that’s pretty much it. The main thing is that Washington does not care about the solution of the crises in the region, instead it prefers to manipulates them in accordance with its own interests.
Those who participated in the summit that took place in Riyadh, notes the Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabah Al-Jadid, should take into account that regional security is the direct product of cooperation of its peoples in various area, including the economic one.
In turn, the Alquds Alarabi newspaper notes that unlike Washington that is approaching regional players with much fanfare, Putin’s Russia is acting quietly, finding new allies in the region, making moves in those areas that were once exclusively controlled by Americans.
Yury Zinin, Leading Research Fellow at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
