Thursday, 15 December 2022 — The Tricontinental
Balqis Al Rashed (Saudi Arabia), Cities of Salt, 2017.
Dear friends,
Greetings from the desk of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
On 9 December, China’s President Xi Jinping met with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to discuss deepening ties between the Gulf countries and China. At the top of the agenda was increased trade between China and the GCC, with the former pledging to ‘import crude oil in a consistent manner and in large quantities from the GCC’ as well to increase imports of natural gas. In 1993, China became a net importer of oil, surpassing the United States as the largest importer of crude oil by 2017. Half of that oil comes from the Arabian Peninsula, and more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports go to China. Despite being a major importer of oil, China has reduced its carbon emissions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly planning to visit Saudi Arabia in the second week of December 2020
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman shares a laugh with Russian President Vladimir Putin after giving the Russian leader a high-five that morphed into a handshake, on the opening day of G20 Summit, Buenos Aires, Nov. 30, 2018. USA Today described it as ‘a car alarm blaring in a library… closely parsed for meaning’.
A 19th century painting of Konstantinovksy Palace, St. Petersburg
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) and US President Joe Biden bump fists in Jeddah before talks, July 15, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and then Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at G20 summit, Hangzhou, Sept. 5, 2016, where they planned an oil output task force that fructified as OPEC+
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (R) met visiting Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Riyadh, May 31, 2022
The New Dark Age 