Bloomberg Media
Bloomberg Politics
June 21st 2022 6:22 AM
A New Middle East geography
Key reading:
- Saudi Crown Prince Makes Regional Tour Ahead of Biden Visit
- Saudi Arabia Lifts Ban on Travel to Turkey Ahead of Prince Visit
- Erdogan Says Saudi Crown Prince to Visit As Ties Warm
- OPEC+ Begins Grappling with Next Move as US Presses for More Oil
- Israel Heads for New Election as Fragile Coalition Collapses
Fence-mending between Middle Eastern rivals offers an opportunity for Joe Biden when he travels there next month to tackle an issue much closer to home. But there are risks, too.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine driving global crude prices higher, the US President is seeking to repair ties with Saudi Arabia after shunning the world’s largest oil producer over its human rights record. Top US ally Israel meanwhile sees the Biden trip as a way to forge regional bonds — including with Riyadh.
US rapprochement with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, whose nation Biden once vowed to make a “pariah” over the 2018 murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, may lead to more Saudi oil on the global market after months of US lobbying, and allow Biden to cast his visit as a political success.
Lower prices for oil (though that is not a given even if the Saudis do increase output) would undercut a key source of income for Russia’s war and help reduce the pain for Americans at the gas pump in the run up to the November midterm elections, with Biden’s Democrats on the back foot domestically already with voters.
The crown prince is also making moves. He embarked on a regional tour today starting in Cairo. Later this week he'll make his first stop in Turkey since Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He'll visit President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s seeking to prop up a deteriorating economy hit by inflation of more than 70%.
Israel is keen to expand its diplomatic relations in the Gulf to include Saudi Arabia, a rival to its nemesis Iran. While there are still big hurdles to normalization, both sides have worked to build links after years of US disengagement.
There is a fresh wrinkle: Israel’s fragile coalition government collapsed yesterday, meaning Biden is now set to meet a caretaker administration that may not be able to drive progress, especially on the question of peace with the Palestinians, which Riyadh sees as essential for warmer ties.
Biden may make greater progress with the Saudis. But in any case, it’s clear that relationships in the Middle East are shifting. — Sylvia Westall
Prince Mohammed and Erdogan met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2017. Photographer: Kayhan Ozer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Global Headlines
- Price cap | Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said talks are continuing on how the US and its allies might limit the price paid for Russian oil, possibly through a plan that gets around a European ban on insuring Russian crude shipments. The price caps under discussion are aimed at restricting “energy revenues to Russia while preventing spillover effects to the global economy,” she said.
- Status symbol | The European Union’s 27 states are set to formally grant Ukraine candidate status at a summit late this week, the first step toward its eventual membership, with no objections at a meeting yesterday of EU ambassadors. The bloc is also set to back candidate status for Moldova, and for Georgia once it meets additional conditions, Alberto Nardelli, Chiara Albanese and Samy Adghirni report.
- China’s chip industry is growing faster than anywhere in the world, after US sanctions on local companies spurred appetite for home-grown components. Nineteen of the world’s 20 fastest-growing chip industry firms over the past four quarters, on average, hail from the world’s No. 2 economy, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
- Last-ditch hope | Once the top-ranking Republican woman in the US Congress, Liz Cheney is regarded as a pariah among many party members for her role in making the case against former President Donald Trump in nationally televised hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection. Billy House explains how her bid for re-election in her home state of Wyoming, where her family is considered almost royalty, may now depend on a surprising constituency: Democrats.
- Tesla chief Elon Musk said he’s undecided about who he’d support in the 2024 presidential election when asked if he’d back Trump. Click here for five key takeaways from Musk’s interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Qatar Economic Forum today, and here for the full conversation.
Best of Bloomberg Opinion
- UK’s Discontent Risks Deepening the Malaise: Mohamed El-Erian
- The Feared Death of the WTO Has Only Been Delayed: Mihir Sharma
- The Weakness of Putin’s Economic Show of Force: Clara F. Marques
Going south | China’s Covid-19 outbreak is shifting to its south coast, with a flareup in technology hub Shenzhen triggering mass testing and a lockdown of some neighborhoods. Nearby gambling enclave Macau, meanwhile, is racing to stop its first outbreak in eight months as China’s two most important cities, Beijing and Shanghai, look to be subduing the virus after months of strict curbs and repeated testing.
Residents in Shenzhen at a Covid-19 testing site on June 6. Source: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Explainers you can use
- Why China and US Disagree on Forced Labor in Xinjiang
- How Emboldened Far-Right Is Changing French Politics
- How Europe Became So Dependent on Putin for Its Gas
- Buhari’s defense | Outgoing Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says he has made progress on everything from fighting corruption and building new transport links to turning back Islamist militants in the north. His critics point to a struggling economy, spiraling state debt and violence spreading across Africa’s most populous nation. ... Read a full transcript of Buhari’s replies to questions from Bloomberg.
- Bloomberg TV and Radio air Balance of Power with David Westin weekdays from 12 to 1 p.m. ET, with a second hour on Bloomberg Radio from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online here or check out prior episodes and guest clips here.
News to Note
- Biden applauded Apple store workers near Baltimore after they voted for a union, becoming the first organized outlet in the US.
- The EU and China plan two high-level meetings in coming weeks, but the talks must tackle real bilateral issues and provide tangible benefits, according to the bloc’s ambassador in Beijing.
- Left-aligned parties and independent lawmakers will hold the balance of power in Australia’s Senate following last month’s election, a win for new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
- Sri Lanka’s cabinet approved constitutional reforms aimed at clipping the powers of the presidency amid months of protests demanding the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over an economic crisis.
- Petrobras CEO Jose Mauro Coelho resigned following a fuel price increase that has angered Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and prompted calls for a congressional inquiry into the state-owned oil producer.
And finally ...
Environmental activist Francia Marquez is likely to play a prominent role in climate policies as Colombia’s first Black vice president. She became an activist at 13 when construction of a dam threatened her small community. She left school to raise her son, working in small-scale gold mining and as a housekeeper. She went on to earn a law degree and was awarded an environmental prize dubbed the Green Nobel in 2018 for her fight against illegal mining.
Marquez during an election night rally on Sunday. Photographer: Andres Cardona/Bloomberg
You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter.
Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022
| The text being discussed is available at
and
| |
