Smart Saudi Diplomacy Produces an "Onus Shift"

Published: August 1, 2007, 11:08 pm

Guest Post by Clayton Swisher: Smart Saudi Diplomacy Produces an "Onus Shift"Embassy-103[1].jpg(Vice President Richard Cheney, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and TWN guest blogger Clayton Swisher)Clayton E. Swisher, a former Marine, is director of programs at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC and is author of The Truth About Camp David (New York: Nation Books, 2004).If news that Saudi Arabia will attend the US-sponsored peace conference this September is correct, it is in fact a very big deal.There will be no dusty conference chairs next to the Quartet and Israel's usual Arab partners: Egypt and Jordan. Following US acceptance of the Arab League Peace Initiative this week during Secretary Rice's visit to the region, first proffered by then Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2002 -- it means the Initiative will also be the basis for discussion. That's terrific news.What's more, the Saudis have denied the US and Israel the ability to allege -- as they generally

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