Tension continue to build between the USA and Saudi Arabia. Besides allowing the Saudi’s to be sued in US courts over 911, the USA is cutting off providing cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. The reason given purports this is due to reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in Yemen. In fact, the USA is no longer in need of energy from Saudi Arabia. Turning a blind eye has been the policy.
However, the tensions building in the Middle East combined with freeing the dollar from any reliance on oil has made all the difference in this political relationship. When Obama visited Saudi Arabia, he was not greeted at the airport by any member of the royal family but by a low level bureaucrat. This too, has contributed to Obama suggesting that the royal family should give was to democracy.