Daily Times

On Monday, Riyadh sent a clear signal to the world by freezing trade with Canada and expelling its ambassador over ‘interference’ in the Kingdom’s domestic affairs. These drastic steps were taken in response to a Tweet by the Canadian Foreign Office, which expressed concern about the arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Samar Badawi. The Saudi Foreign Ministry responded with an entire stream of Tweets from its own handle, terming the Canadian Foreign Office’s statements a violation of Saudi sovereignty, going to the extent of tweeting that any other attempts by Ottawa to ‘interfere’ in Saudi affairs may lead to a situation whereby Riyadh will consider itself free to interfere in Canadian affairs.

Two things can be inferred from this Twitter spat. Firstly, though the Kingdom has given women certain freedoms, like permission to drive and going to stadiums, it is still Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman who gets to decide at what pace social change is to occur in the Kingdom. Not activists, rights groups or foreign governments. Secondly, Riyadh’s closeness to Washington gives the Saudis far more diplomatic clout than they have previously enjoyed. Their current position is certainly far stronger than it was during the Obama era. After all, the Trump administration and Saudi government have converging perspectives on Iran and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), unlike most of the US’ Western allies. It should also be remembered that US-Canada relations are strained these days.US President Donald Trump had even called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “dishonest and weak” following the 2018 G7 Summit. Currently, the US’s relations with most of its G7 allies are in a similar state.

As such, it can be expected that Riyadh will continue to take advantage of the havoc the Trump administration has played with the US’s traditional alliances as it clamps down on dissidents at home and bombs civilians in Yemen. By all accounts the situation in Middle East is worsening and the US cannot absolve its role in exacerbating the authoritarian trends and helping the continuation of conflicts in different areas of the region.  *

Published in Daily Times, August 7^th 2018.