The US-Saudi nuclear agreement could reshape Washington’s influence in Riyadh—and the nuclear future of the Middle East.

The United States and Saudi Arabia are moving closer to a new era of civil nuclear energy cooperation. But the prospect of Washington helping Riyadh develop its nuclear energy sector has raised questions about nuclear proliferation, uranium enrichment, and the broader US-Saudi relationship.

In a new episode of The National Interest’s Three Questions podcast, Center for the National Interest President Paul Saunders examines the US-Saudi Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. 

The agreement could open new opportunities for American nuclear companies and investment while giving Washington a larger role in the development of the Saudi nuclear energy sector. Yet the possibility of future uranium enrichment in Saudi Arabia ensures that nonproliferation concerns will remain central to the agreement. 

The deal also comes at a consequential moment for the Middle East. President Donald Trump has suggested linking nuclear cooperation to Saudi normalization with Israel, while the war with Iran has raised new questions among Gulf states about US security commitments. Together, those pressures make the nuclear agreement part of a much larger debate over Washington’s relationship with Riyadh and the United States’ role in the region.

In the latest Three Questions, Saunders offers his take on the agreement, the proliferation concerns surrounding it, and why Washington’s choices now could shape its influence over Saudi Arabia’s nuclear future.

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

About the Author: Paul J. Saunders

Paul J. Saunders is president of the Center for the National Interest and publisher of The National Interest. His expertise spans US foreign and security policy, energy security and climate change, US-Russia relations and Russian foreign policy, and US relations with Japan and South Korea. Saunders is a senior advisor at the Energy Innovation Reform Project, where he served as president from 2019 to 2024. He has been a member of EIRP’s board of directors since 2013 and served as chairman from 2014 to 2019. At EIRP, Saunders has focused on the collision between great-power competition and the energy transition, including issues such as energy security, energy technology competition, and climate policy in a divided world. His recent projects at EIRP have included an assessment of Russia’s evolving role in the global energy system and a study of the linkages between China’s energy, climate, and national security policies.

The post America’s Saudi Nuclear Deal Is About More Than Nuclear Energy appeared first on The National Interest.