the long run, a split with the Saudis will occur. There is nothing of substance holding these two nations together any longer, and increasingly, there is much that drives them apart. No one wants to admit this publicly, for good and obvious reasons, but the fact is there. For the United States, the split will be a wrenching geopolitical shift.

George Friedman is the founder and chairman of STRATFOR.
http://www.stratfor.com

This STRATFOR article is reprinted with the permission of the publisher