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Joschka Fischer, the 2007 Bartels World Affairs Fellow, speaks at Cornell University.

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HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal sees new hope in Saudi-American relations

Posted on: 4/30/2009

After a recent souring of U.S.-Saudi relations, the Obama administration brings new hope to the two countries’ historic relationship said His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal at his lecture on April 23rd. Cornell University President David Skorton introduced Prince Al-Faisal as a speaker in the Einaudi Center’s Foreign Policy Distinguished Speakers Series.

HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, gave a talk on "What We Expect From America: A Saudi Perspective.” His talk focused on the over 80 years of Saudi-U.S. relations, which have been characterized by tension and friendship. President Roosevelt befriended the founder of the Kingdom and supported the development of oil within the Kingdom. Prince Al-Faisal noted that “Your country helped us, in our developing days, in establishing not only educational institutions and accepting Saudi students to come to your country, but also in the technical support, military and otherwise." Tensions between the two reached high points during major events in the battle for and formation of an Israeli state in the 1950s and again in the 1970s. Relations between the two normalized during the Persian Gulf War as they came together over a common enemy in Iraq. 


September 11th once more increased hostility between the countries when President George W. Bush, who made much of the fact that 15 of the 19 terrorists were of Saudi nationality, "turned his back to peacemaking in the Middle East and almost abandoned everything President Clinton had almost succeeded in bringing about." This prompted Crown Prince Abdullah to write Bush a letter explaining that the two nations had reached a crossroads, and a decision had to be made whether or not they would follow the same path or go their separate ways.


Since then, however, relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States have improved. In spite of the myriad obstacles and problems stemming from the September 11th attacks, “the two governments remained cool headed ... and managed to overcome the effects of that situation.” President Obama’s recent election has brought hope to the entire Middle East for peaceful resolutions to the turmoil that has embroiled the region for decades. Prince Al-Faisal’s advice for U.S. foreign policy: “We don’t want any more plans…we don’t want Obama to say...‘come and tell me what you want.’ No. We want Obama to tell us what he wants. We want an end vision to all this.” He ended on an optimistic note for the future of U.S.-Saudi relations, saying that they are willing to listen to Obama, but that he should make sure his words are followed by actions. “We’re holding our breath and waiting.”


Prince Al-Faisal's talk was part of the Foreign Policy Initiative at Cornell led by the Einaudi Center to maximize the intellectual impact of Cornell’s outstanding resources in this area.


 

Contact Information
Heike Michelsen
Einaudi Center
255 8926
hm75@cornell.edu

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