Webinar | Saudi-US Relations: The Defense & National Security Piece | Jul 19

GLOBAL DIALOGUE

via Zoom

Saudi-U.S. Relations: The Defense and National Security Piece

Vice President Saudi Consulting Services-SaudConsult and Columnist at The Arab News and Alyaum Newspapers

 

Professor David Des Roches
Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at National Defense University
and Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

1200 CT | 1300 ET | 2000 SAST

When President Franklin Roosevelt met King Abdulaziz, founder of Saudi Arabia, in the Suez Canal during World War II, there was no talk of oil for security. The leaders discussed their mutual interests in the context of the world of 1945, but the longstanding conventional thinking about the relationship was not the basis for building ties. So says Professor David Des Roches, Army combat veteran, who served numerous tours in the Middle East and now specializes in the Arabian Peninsula at the Defense Department’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. He notes there’s a shortfall in the knowledge of the history of America’s security interests with the Kingdom.

The lack of detail in that knowledge is a point also made by Commodore Abdulateef al Mulhim who served a career in the Royal Saudi Navy and who is a consultant and commentator on global affairs, especially the U.S.-Saudi relationship. The deep ties and shared interests, he says, are little understood as he points to the successful partnership in the Cold War, in tackling regional security challenges and in serving as a reliable provider of global energy resources. Mulhim, who received his undergraduate education at the State University of New York Maritime College, notes that the liberation of Kuwait and other American military operations in the region would not have been possible with the close partnership.

The U.S.-Saudi ties span many dimensions: political, military, economic, cultural, academic and more. However, the conversation in the U.S. about America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is generally focused on leadership issues. Former American Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman likened it to a marriage that had its ups and downs but had staying power based on the mutual benefit. The national security partnership, said Des Roches, was very good, adding, until Jamal Khashoggi. The brutal murder of the journalist put the conduct of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the spotlight amid accusations he ordered the crime. The White House has worked to move forward but a number of issues remain. Meanwhile, the strategic importance of the relationship, the “tough neighborhood” American military forces continue to engage in, and the interest in the stability and safe availability of Arabian Peninsula energy supplies make it important to understand that piece of U.S.-Saudi ties.

Join TNWAC in a Global Dialogue Zoom Webinar featuring Commodore Abdulateef al Mulhim and Professor David Des Roches with moderator, Patrick Ryan, TNWAC President on July 19 at 12:00 pm Central Time, 1:00 pm Eastern Time and 8:00 pm Saudi Arabia Standard Time to discuss the historical context and more.

We’ll explore these questions and more, and your questions too:

• What is the current state of the mil-to-mil partnership?
• What is the significance of GCC partners signing the Abraham Accord with Israel?
• What is the impact of Riyad’s improved relations with Russia and China?
• What is the impact of Riyad’s improved relations with Iran?
• How has the Saudi-led alliance’s war in Yemen affected U.S. ties?
• How can the U.S. and Saudi Arabia improve mutual security interests in the Gulf?

About Abdulateef al Mulhim

Abdulateef Al Mulhim is Vice President at Saudi Consulting Services-Saudi Consult. He served in the Royal Saudi Navy for over 27 years reaching the rank of Commodore. He was commissioned following his undergraduate education at the State University of New York Maritime College in New York City. Commodore al Mulhim served in numerous operational and staff assignments in the Saudi Royal Navy including duties in the United States. He has been active in talking about Saudi-US relations at conferences and in the media in the U.S. and in the Middle East. He has been a regular columnist for newspaper including the widely read English language “Arab News” and Alyaum newspapers.

About David Des Roches

David B. Des Roches is Associate Professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at National Defense University, where he specializes in countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf Cooperation Council Regional Security, Border Security, Weapons Transfers, Missile Defense, Counterinsurgency, Terrorism and emerging trends.

He joined NESA in 2011 after serving the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy in numerous positions, including as Director of the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, the DoD liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, the Senior Country Director for Pakistan, the NATO Operations Director (where he drafted the NATO comprehensive approach directive), the Deputy Director for Peacekeeping, and the spokesman for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.  Prior to that, he served in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy as an International Law Enforcement Analyst and Special Assistant for Strategy.

Professor Des Roches has lectured at the Qatari Staff College, the Saudi War College, and is the author of numerous articles and chapters on Gulf security. He is the editor of The Arms Trade, Military Services and the Security Market in the Gulf: Trends and Implications (Berlin: Gerlach, 2016), and a contributing author of the NATO curriculum on counterinsurgency [Link] as well as the NATO curriculum on counterterrorism  [Link].   He regularly presents at various Washington and international think tanks on Middle East and security issues.

Professor Des Roches holds advanced degrees from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies and Kings College London, which he attended as a British Marshall Scholar.  He also holds an advanced degree from the U.S. Army War College, and a bachelor of science degree from the United States Military Academy, West Point, where he was selected to Phi Kappa Phi. He is also a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute, the US Government education center for senior civil servants. He is a non-resident academic fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, a non-resident senior fellow at the Gulf International Forum, and senior international affairs fellow at the National Council on US Arab Relations.

He had a thirty year career in the US Army and Army reserve, serving in conventional and special operations parachute units as well as on the Joint Staff, the US Special Operations Command staff, and deployed to Bosnia and Afghanistan, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He retired as a Colonel and is a Ranger and Master Parachutist.

Professor Des Roches is a regular commentator on regional affairs on various Arabic and English language television networks including Sky News Arabia, al-Hurra, al-Jazeera, al-Araby, and al-Mayadeen, and on radio networks such as the Voice of America.