by putting on the table the thing that we do for saudi arabia, which is to protect and to guarantee their security. without, us it would be a socially defenses because they re not all that good at using all of the fancy weapons that we saw algae all the years. they rely on our military presence and security umbrella to protect themselves. we ll prevents this from, changing because we ve done this for decades, we ve had this relationship for decades, but since 2018, this nine for 11, americans have taken a slightly different view on why we are cozy with the saudis and why we provide with the security guarantees that you just described. what prevents us from redrawing the lines of this relationship. others have told me that they need us more than we need them, and we don t rely on them for oil the same way that we used to. that s, correct what happens is that there is a pattern. the saudis do something terrible, they take the murder of jamal khashoggi, we were
yesterday that they re on track to open an embassy in tehran. so all these things were in play. so the hard thing for president biden is if you want to create a joint security umbrella, which is what they re talking about, and show commitment to the region, you ve got to join the dots with everyone. and the dots are all over the map at the moment. and it s going to be hard to find consensus on precisely what that security should look like. but that again comes back to the old oil security paradigm and gulf states want that. and if the u.s. can t find a way to match desires, that s going to put them on the back foot against their competitors, russia and china. it s no it s no coincidence that the united states is bringing up russia because russia has increased its involvement in the middle east over the past few years as the u.s. has pivoted out. it speaks more to that vacuum very optimistic. you know, these things and issues have been going on for years.
that president biden will meet with the former president. is that accurate? we don t have a meeting scheduled with president moon at this time. any discussions about taking on a special envoy to north korea? i m not familiar with discussions along those lines. in the statement today welcoming finland and sweden application to nato, almost at the very end it says while the applications for nato membership are being considered, the u.s. will work with finland and sweden to work against any threats and deter and fight aggression. does that mean the u.s. is extending like the nato security umbrella to them while the applications are in process? article 5 only kicks in once all 30 allies have ratified, but the united states is prepared to send a clear message, as all of our european allies, we will not tolerate aggression against finland or sweden, and there are
already union and the ecc, there forces are already integrated into the structures of nato to a very large degree structures of nato to a very large degree. both countries fulfil all standards of nato and both countries are already standards of nato and both countries are already participating in a nato missions~ are already participating in a nato missions. there accession would further missions. there accession would further strengthen our alliance, they are further strengthen our alliance, they are practically already members of nato they are practically already members of nato without having member status~ of nato without having member status. without having a membership card. status. without having a membership card i status. without having a membership card i know status. without having a membership card. i know that as we all talked about card. i know that as we all talked about this card. i know that as we all talked about this yesterday with the foreign ab
trump administration did practically nothing to retaliate. the ua faced a similar attack in january and was equally stressed that the biden administration was not more active in responding. there s a wage for washington to forge a new security umbrella in the region that includes israel, egypt and the gulf states. it would stabilize the community environment, foreclose the prospects of a nuclear arms race in the region and provide access to energy for the industrialized world. but that path would have to include making up with mohammad bin salman. i don t make this argument lightly. jamal khashoggi was my friend. in fact, when i visited saudi arabia in 2004, he was my companion and guide. i miss him dearly, even now. but the fact of the matter is mbs is likely to rule saudi arabia for the next 50 years. he is an absolute ruler like all of his predecessors but within the country, he is viewed as a