The Biden team’s goal is to create an integrated, allied partnership in infrastructure, touching every aspect of the green transition. This notion of an integrated infrastructure approach is axiomatic to any corporate conglomerate (see Walmart) but novel to the US government. In the words of Hochstein, the president’s special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), “We cannot have a monopoly in the energy sector just to the same national security risks we faced in the 20th century.” Unless the US wrestles control of African mines from China, the railroads to transport minerals from those mines, and the telecommunications infrastructure underlying green energy systems, the US will simply replace dependence on foreign oil with reliance on Chinese components. China controls the critical minerals supply chains and technologies powering the energy transition. The green transition has inverted this approach. President Biden is making the case that if China constitutes the threat that many Democrats agree it is, engaging with leaders such as Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is worth the risk, especially if Saudi capital can help shore up struggling economies globally and incentivize investment by Western companies on continents most vulnerable to Chinese economic influence.Ī pillar of 20 th-century US defense policy was protecting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to safeguard oil access. This full-throated, Kissinger-like embrace of “economic realism” requires difficult tradeoffs for Democrats, particularly on human rights. Safeguarding the supply chains that will power the green transition requires not just securing critical minerals, but also… railroads and 5G network technology. In the eyes of the White House, the Saudis are critical to this effort and must be kept within the US orbit amid Chinese inroads. The administration’s basic theory: Safeguarding the supply chains that will power the green transition requires not just securing critical minerals, but also protecting the infrastructure to access those supply chains, including hard infrastructure such as railroads and 5G network technology. The diplomatic mission by President Biden’s two Saudi “whisperers” was significant because it reflects the White House’s increasingly realpolitik approach to combating Chinese economic aggression and advancing the energy transition. By Daniel Silverberg, Co-head of Capstone’s National Security Practiceįew in Washington noticed in early April the visit of Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein to Riyadh for discussions on China, Yemen, 5G, and, of course, energy.
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