President Xi Jinping plans to visit Saudi Arabia soon. In the video above, Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris of The Duran speculate that Prince Mohammad bin Salman may be planning to join the BRICS alliance.
If so, this could be a big threat to U.S. power—a much bigger threat than the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The BRICS alliance consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Its ultimate purpose is to create a new reserve currency that would be a substitute for the U.S. dollar.
The fact that most world trade is conducted in dollars, which the U.S. government has the power to print, gives the United States enormous leverage over the world economy, including the power to impose economic sanctions.
If this changed, the United States would lose its financial power as well as much of its ability to finance the world’s largest military budget.
Saudi Arabia back in 1973 agreed, in return for U.S. military protection, to price its oil in dollars, to deposit its dollars in U.S. and allied countries’ banks, and to buy U.S. military equipment. As the leading oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has a lot of power in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), whose purpose is to control the price and production of the world’s oil
The Biden Administration earlier this year supported the Group of Seven’s plan to cap the price of Russian oil imports. This must have miffed the Saudis and other OPEC members, because, if successful, the plan would have infringed on the Saudis’ and OPEC’s power to set would oil prices.
Later President Biden asked Prince Mohammad bin Salman to increase oil production to help keep the price down and offset the loss of Russian oil due to economic sanctions. Bin Salman turned Biden down.
Christoforou and Mercouris think Bin Salman is taking a big risk. They expect the U.S. to try to destabilize and overthrow the Saudi regime. The U.S. is already trying to stir up trouble between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Even a direct attack or invasion are not impossible, and Mercouris said Bin Salman needs to be sure of his personal security.
Algeria also has applied to join BRICS. Other countries are expressing interest.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia may push Ukraine off the front pages.
Or maybe not. I don’t have the power to read minds or predict the future.
But I don’t think President Xi would be planning to visit Saudi Arabia unless he had something in mind. And I notice that Saudi Arabia is not the only country who leaders are losing both respect for. and fear of, the United States.
LINKS
China’s Xi Jinping to Visit Saudi Arabia Amid Global Reshuffling by Stephen Kalin, Keith Zhai and Summer Said for the Wall Street Journal.
Chinese President Xi To Visit Saudi Arabia By Year End by Tsvetana Paraskova for OilPrice.
Everybody wants to hop on the BRICS Express by Pepe Escobar for The Cradle. [Added Later]
All Eyes on the Gulf: The Present and Future of Europe’s Energy Supply by Der Spiegel. [Added 11/12/2022]
Xi of Arabia and the petroyuan drive by Pepe Escobar for The Cradle [Added 12/17/2022]
Tags: BRICS, China, OPEC, Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia, Xi Jinping
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
November 9, 2022 at 12:23 pm |
Geopolitics really do seem to be changing. As a resident of Brasil, if the Saudis join BRICS they need to count their fingers after they shake hands with MBS
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November 9, 2022 at 1:05 pm |
If Iran decides attacking Saudi Arabia looks like a good way to distract from troubles at home, that will change MBS’ calculations. MBS saw a chance to make a lot of money and just got greedy. A pivot to China would take decades; until then, his military needs us.
BRICS does not seem like a long-term viable entity. India and China in particular are natural enemies.
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November 9, 2022 at 5:08 pm |
Fred, things are changing a lot faster than you and many other people think. The governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are coming together, and all of them may join BRICS or the Shanghai Cooperation Agreement, because they see the material benefit.
You might take a look at the article by Pepe Escobar that I added to the links list.
All the talk about Iran planning to attack Saudi Arabia comes from the United States and is intended to keep the two countries apart.
U.S. policy is driving a lot of natural enemies together. China is settling border disputes with its neighbors just because of that.
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November 12, 2022 at 3:19 am |
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December 10, 2022 at 2:44 am |
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