Realignment

Words matter, especially when they come from someone with influence. That is the theme of my latest column in Financial Nigeria, the impact of the words of US President Joe Biden before he became POTUS.

Faced with the implications of his words during his presidential campaign, the Biden administration rediscovered the concept of realpolitik and tried to make good with the Saudis by visiting Saudi Arabia in July and ending up with that infamous fist bump.

In November 2019, Joe Biden fingered Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in the killing of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi and committed to making the Saudis pay. He followed up upon assuming office by rejecting contact with MBS and stopping US assistance to Saudi Arabia’s military efforts in its war in Yemen.

Experts warned about the possible backlash against US geopolitical and economic interests. In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, which has triggered food and energy price inflation that has weakened the global economy and affected the living standards of billions of people worldwide, the US and Europe have been seriously affected.

Seeking possible solutions to keep energy prices down as winter fast approaches, Biden was seen making a forced show of camaraderie with a fist bump with MBS, with the hope that Saudi supports an oil market supply boost that would bring down energy prices and help keep Russia under pressure.

However, contrary to what America hoped, the Saudis chose to align with Russia and led the OPEC+ group to agree to a cut of about 2 million barrels per day of oil supply, further causing a rise in the price of Brent crude. Now America has gone the extra step of granting immunity to MBS from prosecution in the Khashoggi affair.

As events play out, Biden and the West need to recognise that the wheels are turning and smaller nations are not simply pawns in the geopolitical calculations of the more powerful ones.

All these hold lessons for Nigeria on the pitfalls of diplomatic naivety. We need to learn how to properly integrate efforts via traditional diplomatic channels and by utilising transnationalism and ‘paradiplomacy’ to achieve our national goals. But perhaps, we first need to define our national goals.