The United States and Saudi Arabia have had longstanding diplomatic relationships, and are important economic and security partners.  With the progression of Saudi Arabia's 2030 plan, the Saudi/China China-Saudi relationship has grown in importance, and Saudi Arabia anticipates cooperation with the Chinese to further expand in many ways. Have we lost Saudi Arabia to China?

Biographies:

Robert Jordan is Diplomat in Residence in the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2001-2003. He was a partner in the international law firm Baker Botts L.L.P. for many years and headed the firm’s Middle East practice based in Dubai until his retirement in 2014. He is Vice Chair of the Tower Center Board of Directors and the Board of Governors of the Middle East Institute. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Southwestern Medical Foundation, a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a past president of the Dallas Bar Association and the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Bilateral U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce. Ambassador Jordan is a frequent commentator with international media including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg and the New York Times. His memoir, Desert Diplomat: Inside Saudi Arabia Following 9/11, was published by Potomac Books.

Jim Falk is president emeritus of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth where from 2001 until 2021, he was its president and CEO. Now living in Santa Fe, he serves on the board of Global Santa Fe (a WACA member) and chairs the program committee. Jim’s interest in travel and global affairs grew from his years spent in Tunisia where he attended a French lycée. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and earned an MA in Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia with a focus on international law and Middle East politics. Jim co-hosts Perspectives Matter, a weekly public affairs program, on KERA-Dallas. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an advisory member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.  In 2012, Jim was appointed honorary consul for the Kingdom of Morocco.