Despite the weakening of the OPEC cartel, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations remain financial superpowers whose international influence no longer depends exclusively on the oil weapon.
This view was expressed by Steven Emerson, a former member of the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who declared that a “vast, powerful Saudi Arabian lobby with vested self-interests” was gaining strength in this country through Arab connections with American business and was seeking to widen its influence over American foreign and economic policy.
Emerson, who has been investigating petrodollar influence in the United States and is the author of the current New Republic series on “The American House of Saud,” made his remarks at a news conference sponsored by the American Jewish Committee.
Stating that “despite the apparent demise of OPEC’s price-fixing mechanism, OPEC’s legacy remains firmly in place.” Emerson said that an “alarming and unprecedented relationship had evolved between American business and the government of Saudi Arabia.”
Referring to Arab investment in the United States, Emerson stated the OPEC nations had more than $55 billion worth of contracts with American companies “in nearly every state of the Union.” In addition, he said, Saudi Arabia now holds billions of dollars worth of private commercial loans in the United States.
“I believe OPEC investment in the United States, disclosed and undisclosed, now stands at $180 billion.” Emerson said, adding: “The leverage has thus been broadened and will continue to exert itself through investments, contracts, deposits, and commercial loans.”
Stating that Congress has not properly explored the issue of how much OPEC investment exists in the United States, Emerson said that, in his opinion, “between 50 and 75 billion dollars worth of undisclosed Arab OPEC investment” had entered the United States through “holding companies registered in Europe, purchases of small amounts of corporate stock, under-the-table agreements, and general investments that need not be reported.”
“All in all,” concluded Emerson, “we have the makings of a vast, powerful foreign lobby whose interests are not nationally-or security-oriented but narrow and vested.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
