Rectification always begins with the recognition of error. Let’s face it; the United States has lost the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over one electoral campaign headline: “Justice for Khashoggi.” A capital mistake, to say the least. The President’s fixation on a “politically correct” foreign policy didn’t only draw a wedge between Mohammed bin Salman (i.e. Saudi) and the White House, but also devised the force of time for the resultant rift between the longtime allies to get deeper and deeper, to an extent of undermining their erstwhile habitual alignment on the international stage. Perhaps it had skipped President Biden’s mind that Mohammed bin Salman’s clout extends far beyond Saudi’s borders, by virtue of being the kingdom’s Crown Prince and de facto ruler—which naturally grants him preponderant power over two prominent regional and international organizations, the GCC and OPEC.
Biden’s ‘politically-correct’ rhetoric has cost him dearly on the international stage, already.
The GCC countries are indispensable atoms to the global energy security nucleus. President Biden has not only sacrificed the United States special relationship with these countries, by antagonizing their Polaris (Saudi Arabia), over the death of one man (Khashoggi); much worse, by so doing, he practically drove them into Russia’s and China’s arms. Now, he lives to deal with the consequences of his impetuous act.
Recently, Indian refiners have begun to settle their payments for Russian-oil purchases in dirhams (AED) instead of US dollar, “An invoice seen by Reuters revealed an Indian refiner was asked to pay for deliveries in dirhams, though the figure was first calculated in dollars. A payment in dirhams was made out to Gazprombank via Mashreq Bank, its corresponding bank in Dubai.
At least two Indian refiners have already settled some transactions using dirhams, and there are more to come soon as trading firms used by Rosneft only just started asking for payments in dirhams this month, the report added.” (Rosen)
Insofar sanctions (Biden’s own Zeus thunderbolt) are concerned, Putin’s excommunication and international isolation are beginning to take their toll on the man’s psychical, as well as physical, health. Rumor has it that he might have lost his communication abilities; is suffering from insomnia; and, lost half his weight, as he rations his food intake in order to survive. All because Biden, King of Olympus, has wielded his thunderbolt (aka, sanctions).
The pressing question at present is: why would the United Arab Emirates allow its banking sector to serve as a vessel for Russia to circumvent Western-imposed sanctions?
The simple straight answer is, the United Arab Emirates has always been “keen to formulate and implement a foreign (especially, regional) policy that falls in line with that of Saudi Arabia.”
Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that this isn’t the first time the UAE defies the United States socialization guidelines for the international community, in alignment with Russia’s agenda.
Be under no illusion, ladies and gentlemen! For President Biden has had a contingency plan set in place to remedy this defection. It is a magical ‘fist bump’ (Pow!) that would revert U.S.–Gulf relations to status-quo ante, and bring Saudi and the UAE back to fold. One could see how enchanted MBS was with Biden’s fist-bump. It was a childhood dream that came true to him!
Okay. Sarcasm put aside now.
The truth of the matter is this:
Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia came too little too late; a desperate and long overdue, “a last minute,” rescue mission of sorts. What made it so, you may wonder? Well, a combination of pride, fear, and sheer stubbornness, has held the U.S. President back from pursuing this much needed rapprochement earlier. An absolute political correctness [emphasis added] enslaves a politician to the lunacy of the ignorant crowd; which he must constantly appease, lest he suffers political death. Were his proclivity for political-correctness moderate, rather than an extreme obsession, he wouldn’t be in such an unenviable position at the moment.
Perchance, it would have been wiser for him to have acquainted himself with transcendental philosophy—namely with Master Leibniz’ (1716) “Theodicy;” wherein Leibniz observed, “An imperfection in the part may be required for a greater perfection in the whole,” (Leibniz, 699).
Wherefore has he done that? Is it truly worth it? Evidently not!
Today, millions, if not billions, of people around the world entire, are suffering due to his quixotic campaign promises and impracticable—rather incendiary, really—‘political correctness.’ The sanctions system has been rendered completely ineffective by one slip of the tongue. And the war has outlived its lifespan because of it. Moreover, the UNSG, António Guterres, warns of an imminent famine threatening multiple regions across the globe; not to mention an uncontainable hyperinflation. The livelihoods of many are at stake—let alone the very lives of millions of Ukrainians.
In the final analysis, all of this was made possible due to a gross error of judgement, spurred by a compulsive obsession with “political-correctness,” of one idealist Joe.
Related Publications: “‘Political Correctness’ and ‘Tolerance;’” “Ukraine Crisis [Part VII: Re-alignments in the Middle-East];” and, “Ukraine Crisis [Part VIII: ‘Crisis and Opportunity’]”
Reference
Leibniz, Gottfried W. Theodicy. Apple Books; La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, translated by E.M. Huggard from C.J. Gerhardt’s Edition of the Collected Philosophical Works, 1875-1890, originally published in 1716.
Rosen, Phil. “Russia Distances Itself from the US Dollar Further As It Moves to Trade Oil with India Using the UAE’s Local Currency: Report.” Markets Insider, 18 July 2022, markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russian-oil-trade-us-dollars-uae-local-currency-dirhams-roseneft-2022-7?utm_campaign=sf-bi-finance&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR1KSm-gqLSXOv0ss3SbRlV6XXOrb3m1T5V-luKMVnYk8ibyg2zGKfvrV7s. Accessed 20 July 2022.
