| Read in browser | ||||||||||||
 Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up here. Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, is showcasing his country today with the opening of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. Titans of global finance including hedge funder Bill Ackman, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and JPMorgan leader Jamie Dimon took part. All touted the business opportunities in Saudi Arabia, which is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to diversify from oil. The conference is also meant to display Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical clout, and comes three weeks before the crown prince’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House. MBS, as he’s known, last visited the US in 2018, months before the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi that strained ties between Riyadh and its Western allies.  Trump and MBS in Riyadh on May 14. Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images Now, thanks to the strong personal bond between Prince Mohammed and Trump and the latter’s prioritization of relations with oil-rich Gulf Arab states, the Saudi royal is expected to sign a pact on defense and security with the US as well as agreements covering artificial intelligence, free trade and — potentially — nuclear technology. Despite the long history of military and intelligence cooperation between the two countries, a mutual-defense deal will be seen by investors as putting Saudi Arabia officially under America’s security umbrella and may reassure them about committing funds to the kingdom. At the same time, many senior figures realize both Trump and American executives will continue to view Saudi Arabia, at least for the foreseeable future, as mainly an exporter of capital rather than an investment destination, despite its reforms. That means the kingdom will keep placing importance on diversifying its relations and partnerships, including with some US rivals like China and Russia. Both those nations are represented at a senior level at the FII. — Sam Dagher  Illustration of the Line development in Neom, a planned city in Saudi Arabia. Source: Neom Global Must ReadsTrump hailed the US’s alliance with Japan, reaffirming ties with a longstanding partner and praising new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on her plans to ratchet up defense spending when the pair met in Tokyo. They later signed documents on trade and critical minerals intended to formalize some elements of a trade deal brokered under Takaichi’s predecessor, which includes a nebulous pledge for Japan to fund $550 billion in US projects.  WATCH: Bloomberg’s Stephen Engle reports on Trump’s visit to Japan. Trump arrived to Southeast Asia wielding trade deals with Malaysia and Cambodia and frameworks of pacts with Thailand and Vietnam that his office hailed as “historic.” The finer details, though, suggest a set of agreements that are uneven and with plenty of unknowns. Separately, Chinese and US trade negotiators lined up an array of diplomatic wins for Trump and Xi Jinping to unveil at a summit this week — easy hits that are pleasing investors, but leave deeper core conflicts unresolved. A rising voice in Dutch politics is capturing part of the country’s far-right base, loosening anti-migration leader Geert Wilders’ grip on voters ahead of tomorrow’s election. Ingrid Coenradie, a little-known politician until recently, is leading the charge, transforming her tiny JA21 party into a budding conservative force by appealing to voters tired of Wilders’ hardline Freedom Party. Alassane Ouattara won a fourth term in Ivory Coast’s presidential elections that excluded his main rivals, potentially extending his stay in power in the world’s biggest cocoa producer to 20 years. Meanwhile, Paul Biya was declared the winner of a Cameroon vote marred by allegations of irregularities, and is set to rule the central African nation until the age of 99 if he completes his eighth term. In Tanzania, imprisoned opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been placed in isolation ahead of tomorrow’s election.  Biya, right, watches as first Lady Chantal Biya casts her ballot in Yaoundé on Oct. 12. Photographer: Daniel Beloumoui Olomo/AFP/Getty Images The Chilean government’s attempt to impose ethical guardrails on the use of AI is drawing pushback from global technology giants, a debate that could set precedents as nations around the world reckon with how to regulate the rapidly growing industry. The bill classifies AI systems according to risk: the greater the potential harm to people or society, the stricter the rules and oversight. Venezuela revoked energy deals with neighboring Trinidad and Tobago for its support of a US military offensive in the Caribbean, potentially raising the economic cost of the island nation’s alliance with the Trump administration. Ontario Premier Doug Ford declined to apologize for sponsoring an anti-tariff commercial that Trump used as a reason to terminate high-stakes trade talks with Canada. The UK can reap “huge benefits” from rebuilding relations with the European Union, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said, as the Labour government seeks to build closer ties almost six years after Brexit. Jamaican officials urged residents to brace for Hurricane Melissa as the first Category 5 storm to hit the island, packing intense rains and winds and threatening to cause widespread destruction.  The Kingston, Jamaica, waterfront on Sunday. Photographer: Ricardo Makyn/AFP/Getty Images Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter for news from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Europe’s imports of diesel and jet fuel are on course for a record-breaking month, as traders gear up for winter and a clampdown on petroleum products made with Russian crude. Almost 1.9 million barrels of supplies from exporters including India, Saudi Arabia and the US arrived in EU ports during Oct. 1-20, figures from Kpler compiled by Bloomberg show, and purchases will hit a monthly record if that pace continues. And FinallyIn a makeshift command center at an abandoned Soviet airfield in Latvia, British soldiers use a specialized network to connect with drones, robots and artillery as part of a NATO-linked Exercise Forest Guardian. Embracing new approaches isn’t just about preparing troops for the next war, but also a multibillion-dollar bet by the UK’s defense ministry and NATO that technology can vastly expand the area infantry can control. Mounting tensions with Russia make the technological task more urgent.  A soldier using Arondite’s Cobalt battlefield management software. Photographer: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg More from Bloomberg
We’re improving your newsletter experience and we’d love your feedback. If something looks off, help us by reporting it here. Follow us
You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg’s Balance of Power newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox.
|
