Hope, despair in Yemen as Biden travels to Saudi Arabia
Ahead of the US president's Saudi trip, Yemenis are feeling a mixture of optimism and gloom about its likely benefits for them.
US President Joe Biden’s Saudi trip is expected to usher in a new phase of cooperation and partnership between the two countries after a year and a half of tensions between the current US administration and the Saudi leadership.
While the kingdom has been a longtime US ally, the former’s human rights record, including its military engagement in Yemen, has damaged its image before many world leaders. Biden had pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Now his narrative has changed, and this visit marks the start of a thaw between Biden’s administration and the Gulf oil-rich monarchy. Yemeni people are left to ponder what will happen next in their country, where a US-backed Saudi-led military coalition has been fighting the Iran-allied Houthi group since 2015.
Yemeni political researcher and author Adel Dashela told Al-Monitor that the presidential visit to Saudi Arabia suggests a new US strategy that seeks to enhance relations between Israel and Arab countries. The other purpose, he reckons, is to prompt an increase in Saudi oil production to address the Russia-Ukraine war’s energy consequences.
