OPINION:
If there is one leader on the global stage who can partner with President-elect Trump to achieve lasting geopolitical stability, it is Saudi Arabia’s visionary, astute, and forward-thinking Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. From the challenge of rebuilding Ukraine to making permanent peace with Israel or keeping the promise of AI tethered to the human soul, Prince Mohammed can be President-elect Trump’s most reliable partner for peace on the global stage.
While President Trump has summed up his vision for the U.S. as “Make America Great Again,” Crown Prince Mohammed has already “Made Saudi Arabia Great Again” within a short period of time. By emphasizing peace at home and abroad, this consequential leader of modern Saudi Arabia has singlehandedly increased the Kingdom’s GDP to over $1.2 trillion from $717 billion since he assumed the title of Crown Prince in 2017. Prince Mohammed understands that economic prosperity cannot be achieved without peace, stability and ideology-free statecraft.
The foundation for a long-term “Partnership for Peace” between President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed can be based on four mutually beneficial initiatives. First, within the Middle East, President Trump can delegate to Prince Mohammed the portfolio for creating a two-state solution that ensures Israel’s long-term security and addresses the Palestinian desire for a homeland. Embedded within this broad portfolio would be the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip.
If anyone understands real estate, it is Mr. Trump. Indeed, America’s first “Builder in Chief” will appreciate what it would mean to allow Saudi Arabia’s creative Crown Prince to build a “Singapore by the Med” within the Gaza Strip. This new real estate development project can provide an oasis of stability on Israel’s border, whereby instead of Hamas recruiting young Palestinians, they are instead employed to work within the tourism sector. This “New Gaza” can become a magnet for tourism from across the Middle East and beyond.
By partnering with Prince Mohammed to resolve the Palestinian issue, President Trump will be well positioned to make a truly historic announcement of tectonic importance; namely, the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. This Trump-MBS partnership to build a new Middle East will not only lay the foundation for permanent peace but should garner a much-deserved Nobel Prize for both men.
Second, and staying within the Middle East, by delegating to Prince Mohammed the portfolio for ending the war in Yemen and stopping Iranian-backed Houthis from attacking cargo ships within the Red Sea, Mr. Trump will have done a huge favor for global economic stability.
Together with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, President-elect Trump can rightly lay claim to contributing to global economic prosperity by bringing an end to the war in Yemen. Imagine a day in the not-too-distant future when President Trump inaugurates a Disney theme park in a new Yemen along the border with Saudi Arabia, the world’s most important energy producer. In short, by partnering with Prince Mohammed to rebuild war-torn Yemen, President Trump will have also delivered stable energy prices for consumers across the globe.
The weight of available evidence suggests that President Trump will achieve his promise of ending the war in Ukraine that Russia started. And herein lies the third area of collaboration between the “no nonsense” statecraft of Mr. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed’s methodical approach to rebuilding. The immediate task after President Trump brings the war to an end is to rebuild Ukraine and ensure that it becomes a thriving economic powerhouse in the heart of Europe. By offering the task of leading the global effort to rebuild Ukraine to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Trump will leave his imprint on a permanent peace in the heart of Europe.
A fourth and truly consequential area of collaboration between President Trump and Prince Mohammed is AI. The young leader of Saudi Arabia has referred to AI as the world’s fourth industrial revolution, but he has correctly argued—as has Elon Musk—that capital should be deployed towards leveraging “AI for Good” and not solely for profit-making. By partnering with Prince Mohammed on harnessing the power of AI for sustainable medical impact, President Trump can leave his mark on humanity for many years after he leaves office.
Imagine a global hub for AI-induced medical discovery in Saudi Arabia run by American and Saudi scientists working on cancer detection, dementia evaluation or cardiovascular disease prevention. These new discoveries can then be shared across the globe for the benefit of all mankind. This Trump-MBS alliance on Medicine4Impact will usher in a permanent era of lower health care costs across the globe by harnessing the positive powers of AI.
The first foreign trip that Mr. Trump took as President was to Saudi Arabia, where he was welcomed with open arms. Mr. Trump was greeted with genuine Saudi hospitality, and his host laid down the red carpet as a sign of his personal respect for Mr. Trump. For the sake of creating the foundations for global peace and security, President Trump should invite Prince Mohammed as the first foreign leader to the White House.
• S. Rob Sobhani, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University
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