What Will Trump Do About Saudi Arabia?

Having vowed to “eradicate” “radical Islamic terrorism,” the new US president cannot stand by idly regarding Saudi Arabia’s actions in Africa.

By James M. Dorsey,

February 3, 2017 | http://www.theglobalist.com/donald-trump-do-about-saudi-arabia-united-states/

Takeaways

• Saudi Arabia has bankrolled strict conservative Islam in the religious & political life of Africa.
• Saudi Arabia may not fund violence in Nigeria directly, but it promotes anti-Shia animus.
• The Saudi campaign is not about religion but geopolitics, specifically against Iran for hegemony.

Having vowed in his inaugural address to “eradicate” “radical Islamic terrorism,” President Trump ought not stand by idly regarding Saudi Arabia’s actions in Africa.
Let me be clear: Within Africa, Saudi Arabia — that is to say the government, the religious establishment and members of the ruling family and business community — does not fund violence.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia has unabashedly launched the single largest public diplomacy campaign in history over the last half century. The country has pumped up to $100 billion dollars into ultra-conservative interpretations of Islam.
That Saudi campaign has succeeded in making ultra-conservatism a force in Muslim religious communities across the globe. It involves the promotion of an intolerant, supremacist, anti-pluralistic interpretation of Islam. http://www.theglobalist.com/donald-trump-do-about-saudi-arabia-united-states/