White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan has postponed his planned trip to Saudi Arabia as he recovers from a cracked rib, Axios reported. Sullivan had planned to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about a potential mega-deal that would help normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The White House is continuing to work on a draft U.S.-Saudi defense treaty related to U.S. support for a Saudi civilian nuclear program.
If you would like more context on this matter, please consider Gordon Gray, the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Prior to his retirement from the U.S. government after 35 years of public service, Ambassador Gray was the Deputy Commandant at the National War College. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia from 2009 until 2012, witnessing the start of the Arab Spring and directing the U.S. response in support of Tunisia’s transition. From 2008-2009, he served in Iraq as Senior Advisor to the Ambassador, focusing on governance and infrastructure in the southern provinces. Ambassador Gray was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2005 until 2008; his responsibilities included the promotion of U.S. interests in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, and oversight of the bureau’s Regional Affairs office.
Gray is following this development and can address the ongoing negotiations.
If you would like to speak with fmr. Ambassador Gray, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at cdouglass
gwu [dot] edu (cdouglass[at]gwu[dot]edu) and Shannon Mitchell at shannon [dot] mitchellgwu [dot] edu.
-GW-
