The signs of an impending crisis in Saudi-American relations have been evident for some time. Low-level tensions that existed before Sept. 11 were amplified by several orders of magnitude by the attacks and subsequent developments.
The fallout from that tragic day has tended to polarize opinion in the two nations and has benefited extremist groups in both countries as well as ardent Zionists.
Christian religious extremist groups in the US and extremists under the guise of Islam within the Kingdom have been armed with what they portray as incontrovertible evidence that Islam is a religion of hatred and destruction. The Saudi government and people are described as breeders and financiers of terrorists.
This image of the Kingdom is even now being reinforced by the actions of a group of relatives of the victims who died in the World Trade Center who are moving to sue the Saudi government. This move, however well or malevolently intentioned, will add a veneer of legal respectability to the ranting of extremists.
It behooves us to reflect, amid the turmoil of accusation and denial, on the causes of the soured relations to establish a path back to normalcy.
We should admit that our relations with the US have always been limited to official and diplomatic endeavors. We have established few, if any, social or non-commercial connections with the US people as a whole.
We have also not established connections with the centers of influence, which has led to our inability to influence both decision-makers and public opinion. In effect, we have no public relations presence worth speaking of.
A Saudi lobby to apply political pressure in Washington is conspicuous by its absence. Oddly, we have not been concerned by the fact that we could not exert pressure in favor of Saudi Arabia in the US corridors of power. This is in spite of our six decades of excellent relations, while smaller countries with fewer interests than ours have disproportionately powerful lobbies in Washington.
We might address some pointed questions to the American multinationals that, having accumulated vast profits from trading with the Kingdom, have been markedly silent when the continuation of high profile good relations would seem sensible.
Thousands of Saudi students and academics living and working in the US seem to have made no impact on the culture or media at all, save in isolated incidents when arrested or detained "under suspicion" or as a "routine precaution."
Our alienation from the US media, and indeed the Western media in general, is nearly total. Our rivals have focused on developing positive images and shaping public opinion through well-established media channels.
Instead of learning from this, we have turned our attention inward and concentrated defensively on ourselves, rather than addressing the world at large. The most we achieved was a few advertisements in some US publications and on TV. They were a waste of money, as they looked suspiciously like apologies.
Millions of Saudi tourists and students have visited America in the last few decades. What impression did they leave on American minds? What impression do Americans working in the Kingdom have of us when they returned to their homeland? Did we earn their trust, friendship, or most importantly, their understanding? Or did we simply strengthen negative images of us that they brought with them?
These are not rhetorical questions. They are real concerns and the stuff of public relations campaigns that we have eschewed rather than seized.
We need honestly to analyze and understand our failings rather than tread our usual path of denial and aggressive reaction to criticism.
It is time to own up to our mistakes and failures rather than attribute them to foreigners' misunderstanding or bad intentions.
It is simply time for a change.
