Prince Turki Al Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research & Islamic Studies and the Former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States, was featured as a panelist at the May 2009 “U.S.-Saudi Relations in a World Without Equilibrium” symposium in Washington, organized by the Committee for International Trade, Council of Saudi Chambers (CIT) and the New America Foundation (NAF). He was featured on the opening panel titled “A Forward Projection of What the Saudi-US Relationship Should Look Like and Needs to Achieve.”
The presentation is a part of a video of the complete panel discussion and Al Faisal’s portion starts at Time: 00:33:22.
Conference organizer Steve Clemons of the Foundation described the significance of the symposium this way:
“..Because of cultural dissimilarities and almost a purposeful “remoteness” that has become institutionalized in the US-Saudi relationship, except when behind closed doors — or perhaps in the privacy of the oval office or big estates here or there, or in Riyadh — the US-Saudi relationship remains “overly exotic” — and is not acted out in public view to the degree it should be. ”The conference that follows below will hopefully become a starting point for a more regular, public exchange of views on the key strategic and economic challenges that face the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the broader Middle East and international system. ”Whether many Americans want to acknowledge it or not, the fact is that the US-Saudi relationship is vital to America’s geostrategic and geoeconomic interests today — and like all diplomatic frameworks between key geostrategic players, this relationship as seen from both the American and the Saudi sides has warts and shortcomings. Nonetheless, it is not healthy to allow a vital relationship to be perceived and discussed through only very narrow lenses. ”What we have coming up on at this event is pretty significant in my view, and I am grateful to officials in the Obama administration and in the Saudi Kingdom — as well as other private sector speakers — for supporting the kind of open encounter we are promoting in this meeting..”
Speaker Biography:
Prince Turki Al Faisal
Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research & Islamic Studies
Former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States
Former Director, Saudi Arabia Intelligence Services
His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1968. Prince Turki was appointed an advisor in the Royal Court in 1973. From 1977 to 2001, he served as the Director General of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), the Kingdom’s main intelligence service. In 2002, he was appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz. In 2005, Prince Turki was appointed Ambassador to the United States. He served as Ambassador to the United States until February 2, 2007. His Royal Highness is involved in a number of cultural and social activities. He is one of the founders of the King Faisal Foundation and is the chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. He is also co-chair of the C100 Group, which has been affiliated with the World Economic Forum since 2003.
