On December 17, 2013, Mohammed bin Nawaf, the Saudi ambassador to Great Britain, published an exceptionally harsh op-ed in the New York Times about the policy of the Obama administration toward Iran and Syria. Until recently, signs of Saudi dissatisfaction with the administration’s Middle East policy came primarily from reports and news analyses. Of late, however, the Saudi government has become much less cautious about its public criticism of the United States. And while Riyadh has no good options as to a substitute ally in place of the United States, it is possible that in the wake of the erosion of Saudi confidence in the US, the kingdom will seek to diffuse risks and form a parallel web of relations with various countries to improve its security situation.
