The Best Laid Plans of Saudis and Men

So I was baffled why people seemed to be taking this new Saudi “peace proposal” seriously. Or at least, letting it see the light of day. Given that it demands Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it occupied after 1967, and the current mood Israel’s rulers, that seemed absurd. Then I read this:

If oil trading were left to market forces, the kingdom’s oil exports to the United States would fall by half. Instead, Saudi Arabia pays a price for its market share, a price that fluctuates each month as market forces change. Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, earns about $1 a barrel less on sales to the United States than on sales to the countries of Europe and East Asia. That discount translates into a subsidy to U.S. consumers of $620 billion per year. In return, the United States deploys military forces in the Persian Gulf, which is of course also expensive. And given U.S. sensitivity to Riyadh’s policy concerns on an array of issues, from the Arab-Israeli peace process to Kosovo to Central Asia, Washington pays the additional price of being constrained in its own foreign policymaking.