Yesterday, I spoke about the highly consequential US-Saudi nuclear deal between Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Deb Amos (now at Princeton University, formerly an international correspondent at NPR) and Joe Cirincione (a long-time policy expert on nuclear proliferation and former President of the Ploughshares Fund).
The topics we spoke about included:
What we know about the deal and what might be in its secret appendices
Why Joe has warned that the Trump-MBS agreement, if not blocked, would be “the worst nuclear deal in history” and would provide Saudi Arabia a path to a nuclear bomb
How the US-Saudi deal is different from nuclear agreements the US has with other countries, including the “gold standard” agreement with UAE
The likelihood that this deal will lead to regional and global nuclear proliferation — and a reminder of why that is very dangerous to human security
Saudi motivations for negotiating this deal and insisting on nuclear enrichment on Saudi soil (hint: arguments that Riyadh is following economic imperatives don’t hold up)
How this deal will further complicate efforts to end the disastrous Iran war
Saudi reaction to Trump’s post hoc edict on social media regarding Saudi normalization of relations with Israel — and whether this could sink the deal
Who is likely to financially profit from the agreement
How Congress or a future US president could thwart or reverse this deal
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this important topic and the analysis Deb, Joe, and I shared on the podcast.
Heartfelt Thanks!
As we wrap up The Debrief’s birthday month, I made a little video to thank all of you for your fabulous support. I’m grateful for your trust, thankful for your attention, and delighted to have you in this Debrief community.
In case you haven’t see it yet, you can check out my post reflecting on The Debrief’s first year, including links to some of my favorite podcast episodes, here.
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Podcast with Wajeeh Lion + Upcoming Podcasts
Thanks to all who joined this morning for my conversation with Wajeeh Lion. I’ll share the video this weekend, along with information about podcasts coming up next week.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, folks.
Huge thanks again for making Year One of The Debrief a success. With your help, I look forward to going from strength to strength.
Shabbat shalom,
Debra
