New King, New Policies?

(AlArabiya) On January 23rd, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died due to an illness at the age of 90. His predecessor, King Salman has taken his place and has claimed that he will rule in the same way that his half-brother did. President Obama, who was previously in India with Michelle, has cut his trip short there in order to come to Saudi Arabia to pay his respects to the royal family and King Abdullah whom he had a "warm friendship" with, along with many others in the US government such as current Secretary of State John Kerry and former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Obama and his staff carefully put together a group of people to accompany him on this trip who had “been invested in the Saudi relationship for a long time and who had known King Abdullah well,”according to U.S. deputy National Security advisor Ben Rhodes. The delegation’s intent on the trip, besides paying respects of course, was  to check in on important issues such as ISIS, Yemen, and Iranian nuclear negotiations.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have had a long history of good relations, around 80 years, and it’s very prevalent that our friendly relations continue, because, in my opinion, Saudi Arabia is our most important and essential ally in the Middle East. It is easy to see that if relations with Saudi Arabia went sideways, all of the U.S.’s relations in the Middle East would crumple as well. So, in a way, Saudi Arabia is our glue. With a new King comes a new voice and new opinions on certain issues. Though King Salman has stated he would continue current policies as shown in this article, the U.S. still needs to be slightly wary and make sure to increase communications with the new King so there are no misunderstandings or backward changes in policy. King Salman has a lot of western ties and beliefs so I believe that liberal reforms will continue and that this change in rule could really help with the ongoing strife in the Middle East.

Questions:

1. What is your opinion on King Salman and do you think he will move the country forward, backwards, or will keep things the same?
2. What issues do you think the Obama administration should be discussing with the new King?
3. Do you think Saudi Arabia is our number one ally in the Middle East or are they not as powerful as we think?