On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved a decision for Riyadh to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian security and economic bloc that was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and several Central Asian countries.
According to Saudi state media, Riyadh has approved a memorandum that would make Saudi Arabia a dialogue partner of the SCO, the first step toward a permanent membership.
The news comes as Saudi Arabia is moving closer to Beijing, raising concern in Washington. According to Reuters, Riyadh joining the SCO was discussed when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia in December.
Saudi Arabia and China have agreed to increase cooperation in all areas during Xi’s visit. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that Riyadh is in talks with Beijing on pricing its oil in the yuan, a move that could impact the US dollar’s dominance.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to join the SCO comes after China brokered a surprise normalization deal between Riyadh and Tehran. Last year, Iran signed a memorandum to become a permanent member of the SCO, which is expected to become official this year. Other permanent members include India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The SCO is a significant economic bloc as its members make up half of the entire world’s population. Iran’s ascension into the SCO will help the country weather US and other economic sanctions as it will help increase trade with Russia, China, and other major economies.
This is actually old news. Saudi Arabia applied in 2021 for SCO membership on partner level. In June 2022 the application was approved by SCO. Each approved partner then negotiates with SCO in various chapters. Each country is different, and consultations are necessary to address outstanding problems, identifvpromiirity areas for cooperatiin etc. For Saufi Arabia, a major stunblung block was relationship with Iran. With this out of the way, Saudi Arabia approved al the agreements and obligations.
Besides Saudi Arabia many others are in differbf stages of the pricess. Like UAE, Kuwait, Egypt, and Maldives.
Old, new, current, it is news that is making heads explode in the Biden administration.
If these countries are making such choices, it would seem the US is behind the 8 Ball a bit….
Our idea in vetoing Zelenski’s original negotiation ideas at the beginning of the SMO was to isolate Russia and even China.
This has backfired as nations around the world are working more closely than ever before with Russia and China.
Nations are looking at EU buying LNG from the US at inflated prices, and at India buying energy from Russia at discounted prices, and are choosing the India scenario over the US one.
Understatement of a century. We’re Royally f()cked in global affairs.
It must be an embarrassment for the USA that their vassal state is so eager to cosy up to China now
Pretty soon US will only have EU to trade with…!
Most of the world will be open to trade, it’s just that America will no longer be able to set the terms, and no one will want to use American institutions to facilitate trade & investment when America cannot be trusted to stay neutral in any dispute.
The US buy-American plans are already driving away the EU, as it has been protesting for the last year.
Our neocons seeking world dominance are driving the US into world isolation instead. A pariah.
It doesn’t really matter what EU thinks. The empire will always dictate the terms and the vassals will submit. Like Viki Nuland said; “F()ck the EU”
Unlike European vassals, Japan and southern Korea, KSA was never an imperial vassal. They participated in petrodollar scam because it was beneficial for them.
You appear to be correct, but I don’t understand how KSA has managed it, they’re very dependent on America for security and have had US troops stationed there since the first gulf war.
It was a different kind of relationship since Nixon shock. The empire needed KSA and did not have any significant pressure points to make them into a vassal. All the imperials could do is spread some silly propaganda about alleged human rights abuses. Saudi played a sidekick role because they needed to get something substantial for all that green paper they were getting for their oil. So that was top military gear and US bases. It wasn’t dependence, it was almost charity. Why they decided to end this ‘relationship’ now is a little mystery but I suspect they see changing winds and want to prepare for the coming storm.
Saudi Arabia rightly fears becoming a future target of the price cap scheme the US is trying to use against Russia. That is a huge factor driving them away from the US, toward other nations already subject to US sanctions — Iran, Russia, China, and who is next?
Begins to look like a stampede from the dollar.
Very good point. I was thinking about why Saudi decided to abandon the “American dogs”. Price caps kinda slipped my mind because it’s so ridiculous. There are several factors. Could be the war in Yemen. It’s possible Saudi realized that American weapons are crap and I can’t imagine them being happy about war on their southern border. Another factor is theft of Russian assets or sanctions or Nordstream pipeline bombings. Could be combination of all. The imperial regime is in total downward spiral since 2008. It isn’t just grandiose, geopolitical mistakes. It’s fatal mistakes. Russians and Chinese don’t really need to do much. The Anglo-American empire is collapsing faster on its own.
“Saudi Arabia to Join Shanghai Cooperation Organization”
The Petrodollar was suppose to cover for America going off of the gold standard. Saudi Arabia agreed in 1971 to sell oil only in dollars.
Whoops: Standby for a very turbulent financial crisis ahead.