Bremmer on Saudi Arabia: ‘I Don’t Know What Legitimizes This Regime Going Forward’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT [excerpt]:

BREMMER: "[The Saudis] are on their own. I mean you’ve got the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan supporting the Saudis here, not even a majority of the Gulf Cooperation Council members, where are the Qataris, where is Oman? Where is Egypt? [Egypt] welcomed Russia in Syria, much to Saudi’s surprise and chagrin. They are much more worried about the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islam. Wahabism doesn’t play well for them in [Egypt]. In Pakistan, the Chinese are writing them big checks. If you’re Saudi Arabia right now, even knowing the United States is on the cusp of actually implementing that Iranian nuclear deal, you don’t care if this timing is the unpleasant for the Obama administration because you expressed your concerns about the Iranian deal. Much bigger problem for you than for the Republicans or for Israel.” 
SCARBOROUGH: “The Saudis, UAE, the Gulf States feel like they are on their own and for the first time since the 1970s they don’t have the Americans to back them up.”
BREMMER: “The Gulf states mostly will hedge. If you’re a country like Qatar they will say we want to do business with Saudi Arabia. But if you’re Saudi Arabia, you’re isolated with $35 a barrel oil. I don’t know what legitimizes this regime going forward.”
SCARBOROUGH: “So let me ask you this... I know it’s an impossible question to answer and know for sure, but with the executions were they more aimed at sending a message to Iran or to ISIS?”
BREMMER: “They were mostly aimed at sending a message to the Saudi people because the Saudi government now has had — they just came from austerity in their budget. They are reducing their energy subsidys at home. The message being: ‘we are true believers.’ That’s what I said about the ISIS part. More about ISIS or more about Iran.”
BREMMER: “This is more about — they killed 47 people.46 of them are Sunni attached to al Qaeda, attached to ISIS or so they say. Obviously the round up was big. Remember they rounded up hundreds and arrested them and we weren’t complaining then. They killed the one Shi’ite. Like the Chinese they go after local corruption and get some Americans first. This was mostly a domestic message, which makes this worse. If this was just sending a message to Iran the Iranians could send it back. But if we don’t know what keeps our regime together, we don’t have the money to pay you anymore, but we are going to gin up some natinoalism, say the Iranians are our enemy and Americans won’t help us anyway, that’s a much more dangerous environment for the region.”
BARNICLE: “It is our best bet strategically and in the interest of the United States to go with Iran in the long term, the long term being three to five years.” 
BREMMER: “Yeah, over the longer term because it’s a larger more diverse population and economy. You’re going to see more investment. Americans are producing oil at home. Let’s be clear: The Supreme Leader is the one that said that there will be divine retribution for what the Saudis have done. They were the one that right after the Saudis executed this guy, suddenly you had demonstrations and fire bombing of the Saudi embassy in Tehran.”