General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Question: Why would the U.S. overthrow secular governments in the Middle East [View all]leveymg
(36,418 posts)This picture is worth several trillion dollars:
For a long time, it was Houston that had veto power over Riyadh. At this point in the Mideast and North Africa, it is hard to say who is the senior and the junior partner. I suspect that there's been a shift of power, and that occurred to a very large degree because of the overreaching greed and stupidity of the Bush family and its minions. See picture, above, again for reference.
Of course, there are other competing power elites who vie for influence and control over American and western policy. For instance, the Israelis are allies of convenience with the Saudis with regard to Iran, Syria and the other Shi'ia states. Elites are not monolithic - the Chinese have been exerting countervailing force, as they see stability as the key to low energy prices and to recovering their sizable investment in U.S. and western debt and equities, while the Saudis and other OPEC states have made enormous fortunes many times over during wars that restrain production and supplies on the world markets. But, no matter how complex the picture really is, who can deny the power of oil money, and its linkage to Mideast wars and revolutions?