Andrew Korybko |
Trump’s son-in-law was in Saudi Arabia meeting with the “Red Prince” right before the “deep state” coup was initiated, prompting wild speculation that Washington was behind the wild purge in Riyadh, but a deeper and more emotionally distanced examination reveals that this narrative is nothing more than a discrediting smear designed to undermine the Kingdom in the midst of its much-needed power consolidation.
Alt-Media is abuzz with talk about Jared Kushner’s unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia just a few days behind Mohammed Bin Salman made his unprecedented power grab in the Kingdom, with many commentators theorizing that it proves that the “Red Prince” was acting on orders from Trump.
For crucial background reading into the “deep state” coup that took place last weekend, the reader is strongly suggested to skim through the author’s five earlier analyses on the matter, all of which are compiled in a list mentioned at the beginning of his latest piece about how “Hariri’s Capture Was Instrumental To The ‘Red Prince’s’ Rise To Power”.
The “Red Prince” can be expected to follow in his Philippine strategic predecessor’s footsteps, which would in the larger scheme of things represent a “progressive” geopolitical development.
To continue with the topic at hand, however, it’s much more likely that Kushner’s quick trip to the Kingdom had more to do with “Israel”, the Trump Organization’s future business deals, and the NEOM future city project that was announced shortly before the President’s son-in-law’s visit.
Like the author wrote about in mid-October, “Saudi Arabia Might Recognize ‘Israel’ Because of NEOM”, seeing as how the half-a-trillion-dollar initiative is planned to be built in very close proximity to the quad-state crossroads of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and “Israel”.
Read more: Jared Kushner’s ineptness has him registered as a female voter?
“Recognition” Of “Israel” would allow NEOM to crucially achieve overland access to the Eastern Mediterranean via Tel Aviv’s “Red-Med” railway proposal that’s slated to become an important regional component of China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and it’s of course in the US’ grand strategic interests to see the Kingdom formally or de-facto “recognize” the Ummah’s number one enemy.
One should also bear in mind that Kushner is Trump’s point man for brokering “peace” in the Mideast, which in essence means that his son-in-law is trying to convince as many nearby Muslim countries as possible to accept whatever plan the US puts forth in the coming future.
It’s predictable that Saudi Arabia will grow closer to the Trump Administration and “Israel” in the coming months.
In addition, one shouldn’t forget that the Trump Organization is a global real estate leader, and despite US law prohibiting the President from being directly engaged in self-interested business deals during his tenure, it’s very probable that Kushner was dispatched in order to feel out possible opportunities for the family business to invest in NEOM.
In Trump’s “defense”, he would be doing his country a “disservice” if he ignored a half-a-trillion-dollar business opportunity and didn’t find ways for American companies to get involved in this gargantuan endeavor.
At the end of the day, however, Kushner’s closeness with the “Red Prince” indicates that the future Saudi King isn’t “anti-American” by any stretch of the imagination, even if he just purged the world’s largest crime family of its most vehement pro-American members. It’s at this juncture where it’s important to clarify that Mohammed Bin Salman is against the regime change-obsessed US “deep state”, and not against America itself.
Read more: Saudi-“Israeli” Leaks: Collusion Or Opportunism?
In fact, there seems to be a lot about the US that he likes, and Trump appears to be reciprocating this fondness because the President likely has some degree of man-to-man respect for the young ruler’s success in “draining the swamp”.
Trump’s son-in-law was in Saudi Arabia meeting with the “Red Prince” right before the “deep state” coup was initiated, prompting wild speculation that Washington was behind the wild purge in Riyadh.
Just like Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte started off as an anti-American firebrand by draining his own swamp of its pro-US elite as a means of facilitating his country’s geopolitical “rebalancing”, so too is Mohammed Bin Salman doing the same, with both leaders having close friendships with Trump but remaining equally suspicious of the American “deep state” that wants to overthrow each of them.
That’s why observers can probably expect the “Red Prince” to embrace the US just like his predecessors did once he’s secure in the knowledge that America’s regime change collaborationist royals have been neutralized and he no longer has to fear any imminent plots against his rule.
While the US “deep state” will never forgive Mohammed Bin Salman for foiling their plan to reverse his game-changing Great Power partnerships with China and Russia, they’ll likely come to begrudgingly accept this new reality with time, just as they’ve done with Duterte. Similarly, they may even enjoy just as much success in retaining, if not strengthening, their countries’ legacy of relations if the “Red Prince” courts American investment to build NEOM, and especially if the Trump Administration brokers a more formalized anti-Iranian alliance between the Kingdom and “Israel”.
This means that Saudi Arabia should be seen as “multi-aligning” its foreign policy priorities just like the Philippines is, whereby it pragmatically clinches new partnerships while still keeping the old ones intact, albeit reformed to a degree where each respective state is now relatively more sovereign vis-à-vis the US after undermining the “deep state’s” regime change plots against their leaders.
This would ordinarily be celebrated by supporters of the emerging Multipolar World Order, but since Saudi Arabia is so notorious for cooperating with the US in preserving the unipolar state of affairs in the region just like Turkey traditionally has, Mohammed Bin Salman is being treated in the Alt-Media just as poorly as President Erdogan was when he first commenced his own multipolar pivot following the failure of the pro-US coup attempt against him in summer 2016.
Read more: “Mad Dog” Mattis Demands Global War Authorization For Trump!
That’s why there’s such a conspiratorial emphasis on Kushner’s role in the “Red Prince’s” “deep state” coup, as many people are craving to discredit it at all costs simply out of the spite that they have for the Saudis’ destructive involvement in Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere over the years.
Kushner’s closeness with the “Red Prince” indicates that the future Saudi King isn’t “anti-American”.
As proof of the double standards inherent to this narrative, many of the same people alleging that Kushner and the US had a role in Mohammed Bin Salman’s weekend purge ignore the equally ‘plausible’ and speculative possibility that President Putin and Russia might have played a role instead (or even alongside the US) since the power grab was initiated exactly one month after the Saudi King’s historic first-ever visit to Moscow.
It would follow that this milestone event could have been much more influential on the young prince than what’s turning out to be yet another routine meeting with Kushner, though this theory is discarded because it doesn’t fit the discrediting narrative that Mohammed Bin Salman is Trump’s patsy.
Furthermore, it’s very ironic that many members of the Alt-Media community who were praying for the Kingdom’s downfall just last week and could care less about the fate of its royal family are now crying crocodile tears over the “Red Prince’s” alleged torture of his own corrupt kin and echoing the State Department and the infamous Western disinformation NGO “Human Rights Watch” in feigning concern for the accused individuals’ right to due process.
Read more: ‘Coup de Grace’ of the Old System in Saudi Arabia
These same voices would likely agree that there’s nothing more “Orientalist” than an outsider telling a country’s people what’s in their “best interests” (e.g. “Assad must go!”), yet they have no qualms about contradicting the support that the majority-youthful Saudi citizens are giving to their Crown Prince in his anti-corruption crackdown against the royal family that some of them have come to hate.
That said, this hypocritical reaction isn’t just for the sake of it, but is probably also motivated by a Machiavellian cynicism to oppose “their sides’” archrival no matter what it does (note: Alt-Media is largely “pro-Iranian” in tone), especially if it’s on the path to internally strengthening itself after a much-needed and long-overdue purge of its most decadent and self-destructive elements.
Observers can probably expect the “Red Prince” to embrace the US just like his predecessors did once he’s secure in the knowledge that America’s regime change collaborationist royals have been neutralized/
The bigger picture of a more stably balanced Multipolar World is inconsequential in this short-term calculation despite Mohammed Bin Salman’s dramatic moves preserving his Kingdom’s paradigm-shifting partnerships with China and Russia, which is why no effort has been spared in trying to misleadingly frame the future King’s actions as a Zionist or pro-American coup and not the anti-oligarchic Bolshevik one that it truly is in order to discredit it.
It’s predictable that Saudi Arabia will grow closer to the Trump Administration and “Israel” in the coming months, though unlike what would have happened had Mohammed Bin Salman been deposed, this won’t come at the expense of the country’s newfound relations with the two most important Multipolar Great Powers.
Read more: “Saudi Arabia: On road to absolute monarchy?”
Instead, it’ll probably follow the “multi-alignment’ model that Duterte has spearheaded in “rebalancing” his country’s international priorities in order to make it an object of win-win competition between the unipolar and multipolar “blocs”, all to the grand strategic benefit of his countrymen so long as he can continue to maintain a stable equilibrium.
Saudi citizens are giving to their Crown Prince in his anti-corruption crackdown against the royal family that some of them have come to hate.
The “Red Prince” can be expected to follow in his Philippine strategic predecessor’s footsteps, which would in the larger scheme of things represent a “progressive” geopolitical development compared to what could be forecasted if China and Russia lost their influence in the Kingdom through Mohammed Bin Salman’s ouster by royalist conspirators acting as “useful idiots” for the US “deep state” and/or outright collaborating with it.
DISCLAIMER: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution.
Andrew Korybko is a political analyst, journalist and a regular contributor to several online journals, as well as a member of the expert council for the Institute of Strategic Studies and Predictions at the People’s Friendship University of Russia. He specializes in Russian affairs and geopolitics, specifically the US strategy in Eurasia.The views expressed in this article are author’s own. It does not reflect Global Village Space Editorial policy.