Saudi Arabia's Lobbying In The United States Since The 21st Century

Political lobbying plays a significant role in U.S.' foreign policy making process.Saudi Arabia's political lobbying in the United States affects U.S.' developing its policy towards Saudi Arabia and Saudi-U.S.relations in a direct way of indirect way.Since the beginning of the 21st century,and since Donald Trump took office in January 2017 in particular,Saudi Arabia has increased its efforts in lobbying the United States aimed at expanding its regional influences in the Middle East,curbing the rise and expansion of Iran,improving deteriorated Saudi-U.S.relations,seeking external support for its domestic reforms,as well as enhancing its national image.Saudi Arabia's political lobbying in the United States aims to achieve three short-term goals:creating a social environment and public opinion atmosphere in the United States that is favorable to Saudi Arabia's image and its policies through changing the American stereotype and inherent perception of Saudi Arabia;seeking solid support from the United States in regional affairs,and promoting a shift in U.S.policy toward the Middle East in a positive direction to Saudi Arabia through increasing investments in the United States and partially compromising on regional issues such as the Palestine-Israel conflict;gaining support from U.S.elites for Saudi Arabia by using personal contacts and high-level interactions between the leadership of the two countries.These short-term goals will essentially serve the goal of consolidating the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States thus to ensure the latter's long-term support for the former.Saudi Arabia's political lobbying in the United States is conducted through three modes.Direct lobbying targets the U.S.president and his core decision-making circle as well as government officials;indirect lobbying targets the media and think-tanks;and lobbying voters at grass-roots level.The ultimate goal of the three modes of lobbying is to exert Saudi influences on the decision-making process of the White House and the Congress.These influences are reflected in particular in U.S.shaping its Middle East policy and shift in U.S.-Saudi relations.On the whole,Saudi Arabia's political lobbying in the United States has been characterized by a short time span,a low-degree organization,and an overall small scale.Regarding the perspective of lobbying goals,Saudi Arabia's lobbying in the United States mainly focuses on responding to emergencies and specific issues,due to the lack of strategic,systematic and long-term lobbying goals.In terms of lobbying strategies,Saudi's efforts in lobbying lack a unified organization that integrates dispersed lobbying resources and lobbying forces.Therefore,Saudi's lobbying activities are mainly crisis management-and decentralized actions-oriented.The lobbying agencies hired by the Saudi government for diversified issues neglect strategic cooperation and resource integration.As lobbying targets,Saudi Arabia's investments in its lobbying lean too far toward the top leadership of the U.S.power structure,especially the U.S.president and his family members.this lacks a broad base of grassroots voters due to the lack of their support.Saudi Arabia relies too much on direct lobbying targeting the president and members of the Congress.As a result,the effectiveness of Saudi's lobbying in the United Sates is limited to specific presidencies and topics,which leads to difficulty in exerting Saudi's lasting influences in the United Sates.