From the war in Syria and Yemen to the current war in Gaza, the pattern of the Middle East has changed dramatically in the past decade. The Gulf Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, have long begun to pivot, and the guidelines from energy strategy to military security strategy have seriously deviated from the direction of the United States. And the conflict in Gaza has undoubtedly served as a catalyst for America's Middle Eastern allies to begin to play a strategic balance between world powers without hesitation. In the face of the "changing trend of influence of other major powers" in the Middle East, the United States has finally become anxious when it sees that it is becoming more and more difficult to lead the contingent. And took the initiative to put down his value and sit down to negotiate with the leading big brother in this region of Saudi Arabia.
Foreign media revealed that US Secretary of State Blinken's trip to the Middle East has finally achieved certain results. According to Bloomberg, the United States and Saudi Arabia are close to reaching a historic agreement. According to the source, the United States has made a rare decision to meet a special condition for Saudi Arabia: the United States will assume military obligations to ensure the security of Riyadh and allow access to weapons that were previously prohibited from being delivered to Riyadh. This means that the "Reaper" drones and F-35 fifth-generation fighters, which the United States previously refused to sell to Saudi Arabia, can now be written on the arms sales list. But this comes at the expense of the "exclusive privilege of Israel" for arms sales.
F-35
JO-35
Therefore, there must be prerequisites for the above-mentioned preferential treatment enjoyed by Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg news agency said that the United States has put forward two "hard conditions" to Saudi Arabia that it must agree to. The first is about Israel: "If Netanyahu stops the war and paves the way for Palestinian statehood, Saudi Arabia will recognize Israel." This should also be a quid pro quo for Israel to "sell certain advanced weapons and equipment to countries other than Israel in the Middle East" to the United States. The battle in Gaza made the Israeli military realize that "concessions are inevitable".
American MQ-9 UAV
Chinese "Pterodactyl-2" UAV
The second hard condition that the United States put forward to Saudi Arabia is that Saudi Arabia will limit "China's military and civilian technology in Saudi Arabia" and establish a civilian nuclear program under the leadership of the United States. Previously, due to the refusal of the United States to provide UAVs and related technologies to Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia has obtained the "Pterodactyl" and "Rainbow" series UAVs produced in China, and has established production lines in China. Recently, there have been rumors in the international arms market that Saudi Arabia and other countries have China's 052D destroyers and J-35 stealth fighters. China's 052D destroyer is benchmarked against the American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, while the J-35 is benchmarked against the American F-35 Lightning.
Saudi Arabia's Dongfeng-3 ballistic missile
However, it is too late for the United States to change its tune. The bonds of cooperation and trust that have been established are difficult to sever. To put it bluntly, China has all the advanced weapons that the United States can provide, and there are no strings attached. For Saudi Arabia and other Arab powers, it is not only a matter of selecting channels for advanced weapons and equipment and science and technology, but also the autonomy of national strategies. This is also the "authority" that Americans are still unwilling to let go.