Ashok Dhillon
Aug 14, 20185 min
The plaintive statement “We don’t have a single friend” as a headline on an article in a major news organization caught our attention. Upon reading the article, it was a bit surprising to know that the statement referred to Canada as being abandoned by its many allies and friends around the World, in its bizarre diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia.
The rather dramatic statement was attributed to Rachel Curran, a policy director under the former conservative government of Canadian PM Stephen Harper. Even after discounting for a bit of political point scoring from the Opposition Party, the statement is still a bit of a shocker because it does generally cover the overall position that Canada found itself in after offending the ultra-sensitive sensibilities of the Saudi government, or more accurately, of the ruling Prince Mohammad bin Salman, in expressing concern for and asking for the release of imprisoned human rights activists.
How dare Canada, a Country known for its stand for human rights, utter such blasphemy, as to express concern for imprisoned activists?!!
The tantrum from ‘The Kingdom’ is a sign of the different times we now are in.
For Canada to stand up for human rights, freedom of speech and expression, the free press, and peaceful protests, especially under the Liberal Party led by the young and ultra-liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is as expected as Saudi’s lack of such humanitarian causes and/or values under its ultra-conservative monarchy. So, each Country is playing by its known rule-book, and generally meeting international expectations. But what’s been different this time has been the fury and ferocity of Saudi Arabia’s reaction to a seemingly routine Canadian protestation.
Apart from the ‘over-the-top’ reaction of the Saudi government - the expelling of the Canadian Ambassador, the cutting off of diplomatic ties, the withdrawal of Saudi medical students, of all current and future investments etc. - the other difference this time perhaps has been, the studiously muted support Canada has received from its major and closest allies, the U.S., the U.K., and Europe, in its what’s now become a diplomatic throw-down between the two countries; and hence the plaintive statement of abandonment of Canada from Rachel Curran.
So why the change in the key dynamics? Particularly, Saudi Arabia’s eyebrow raising temper tantrum at an otherwise innocuous tweet.
In our view, it’s primarily the Donald Trump factor.
By repeatedly and openly trashing Canada (the largest trading partner, most benign neighbour, and an ally in most of America’s most important wars) for its supposed unfair trade practices against the U.S. and declaring it, in a sense, a black listed country, along with practically all of its other largest trading partners (Mexico, China, Germany being some of the others), Trump had signalled to the World that Canada is no longer its closest, most valuable ally, and therefore on its own.
Plus, Canada’s known democratic values, its open arms stance towards refugees, its truly egalitarian society, its historic reputation as a peace broker, and its ultra-liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were all the things that Trump did not admire, and in fact kind-of detests. So Saudi Arabia knew that it had nothing to fear from the U.S. if it seriously dumped on Canada. In fact, Prince Mohammad bin Salman probably knew that in attacking Canada he would have Donald Trump’s tacit blessings. What’s bizarre, is, that in attacking Canada for its stand for on human rights it’s akin to attacking the late great Mother Teresa for having compassion for humanity.
Then there is the Middle East equation.
The U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia (along with the other Sunni dominant countries) have an obvious pact where the common enemy is the sole Shia dominant Muslim country left, after the destruction of Iraq and Syria, which is Iran.
Barack Obama during his two terms as the U.S. President had tried to be more even-handed towards Iran, and had pushed back on Israel and Saudi Arabia, and that had not endeared him to the leaderships of those countries, and the Republicans in the U.S.
Trump, being on a seek and destroy mission of everything that Obama had done, has reversed the equation and put Iran back in its cross-hairs, and once again embraced Israel and Saudi Arabia unconditionally.
That dynamic has further emboldened the relatively new Saudi Arabian ruler.
In fact, having Trump solidly in his corner, the Ruler of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammad bin Salman (Prince MBS, as he is generally known), has sent an unusually aggressive and undiplomatic message to the rest of the democratic Western countries that it will not tolerate any criticism of its internal medieval practices, whatsoever, especially where human rights are concerned.
Prince MBS, who seems to be bestie with Trump’s son-in-law, Kushner, knows Trump couldn’t care two hoots about human rights, while he openly loves and admires repressive strongmen as rulers (and they don’t come any stronger or any more repressive in their own country than the rulers of Saudi Arabia) so he has full impunity and support to do as he pleases from Trump and his administration.
Unlike his predecessors, Prince MBS, has little time for the careful deliberations and conservative actions of his father and uncles who ruled before him. He has set out, upon taking control, to change Saudi Arabia from a relatively quiet oil kingdom to an aggressive World player which is not afraid to go to direct and proxy wars (as in Yemen and Syria). And it didn’t stop there.
Upon becoming King, Prince MBS rudely shook his own family and non-family power brokers in the Kingdom, by literally shaking them down of many of their Billions, while daring open conflict with other Kingdoms such as Qatar, and even openly challenging Iran. Such openly aggressive behaviour is so unlike the traditional Saudi Arabia that the World has known in the past.
And in spite of being the prime ‘Keeper of the Islamic Flame” for the near 2 Billion Muslims of the World, Saudi Arabia tacitly sided with Trump and Israel in their move of the Israeli Capital to Jerusalem (thus shutting out the Palestinians) for their pact to hold in collectively confronting and weakening their main protagonist in the Middle East, Shia dominant Iran.
These aggressive actions of his have not hurt him so far, so he is no mood to be lectured by Canada, even by a tweet, on any subject let alone Saudi’s prime weakness, its shockingly medieval record of human rights abuses, its continuing fierce subjugation of women, and its complete intolerance for internal dissension and protests.
Trump as the ‘leader of the free world’ changed the dynamics of the World when he deliberately gave the all clear signal to the most repressive regimes; that it was their time to shine and dominate global affairs while sowing discord and division in the democratic countries. Towards that end he has been openly clear, by embracing (at times literally) Russia’s Putin, China’s Xi, North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un, Philippines Duterte, Saudi’s Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and every other dictator worth his salt.
These dictators/rulers have been emboldened, while true democracies have wobbled with the seismic shift of the U.S. towards authoritarianism and the active sanctioning of bully power.
But one country has stood firm on its core values in spite of the rise of Trump, the quasi-fascist bullies, the assault on democracy, human rights, the truth and common decency, in these regressive times, and that country is Canada.
In spite of the manic reaction of Saudi Arabia to Canada’s concern for the imprisonment of human rights activists, Canada’s government has stood firm on its principles as the Champion of human and civil rights, in spite of economic costs, and the less than enthusiastic support of its allies.
That, is Canada. But then Canada is not really alone. All the humane, compassionate people of the World, even in the authoritarian countries, stand with Canada.