🌊 Democracy Dies in Riyadh

Did someone forward you this? Subscribe here free!

By Max Frost

Missing this week among headlines about President Trump’s Qatari jet and Saudi Arabia’s agreement to buy $140B of US arms was something notable, namely: The way Trump, in a matter of minutes, tossed out decades of American foreign policy toward the Middle East. 

In today’s deep-dive, we look at how America has promoted democracy in the Middle East – and how Trump abandoned that strategy in Riyadh on Tuesday. 

When President Clinton took office, he set a new, post-Cold War American foreign policy goal: Spreading democracy. 

As he declared in 1993 in his first inaugural address, “Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is America’s cause.”

By 1995, democracy promotion had become a pillar of his foreign policy: “We know that abroad we have the responsibility to advance freedom and democracy,” he said in a speech that year. “[We] must continue to advance democracy and freedom to promote peace and security…We know these democracies are less likely to go to war, less likely to traffic in terrorism, more likely to stand against the forces of hatred and intolerance and organized destruction.”

American actions didn’t always back up these words, yet the rhetoric was clear: American leaders would use their platforms to push for democracy. 

President George W. Bush doubled down on this, declaring a “Freedom Agenda” as the antidote to terror, and, of course, overthrowing regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As he declared in 2003, “60 years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe – because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty.”

Under his presidency, the US increasingly pushed authoritarian allies to open their political systems. As his White House noted in 2008, “President Bush urged valued partners like Saudi Arabia to move toward freedom…Yet Saudi Arabia has a great distance still to travel. The United States will continue to press nations like Saudi Arabia and Egypt to open up their political systems, encourage greater religious tolerance, and give a greater voice to their people.”

President Obama continued the trend. After initially dialing back the pro-democracy rhetoric – in 2009 he said, “No system of government can or should be imposed by one nation on any other” – he declared during the Arab Spring in 2011:

“It will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy.”

President Biden dialed this back somewhat, although he vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its human rights abuses. While he ended up visiting Saudi, he said ahead of that trip, “My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad.”

Whatever that left for America’s Middle East democracy agenda, Trump threw out on Tuesday.

Editor’s Note

Is that a smart deal? Will it work? Is Trump right or wrong to give up on democracy promotion? Let us know by replying to this email.

And in case you missed them, here are our past five stories:

• Inside Trump’s Crypto Empire

• Trump-themed savings accounts?

• Will Trump Tax the Rich?

• Roca’s response to your censorship criticism

• How Nixon Broke The Dollar

A bunch of you wrote in about the Trump family’s crypto empire. Here’s a selection of those replies:

Jim wrote:

While Tammy wrote:

And lastly, Jonny said:

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading.

—Max and Max