If the United States thinks it can ignore or insult Gulf leaders because it’s no longer dependent on Middle East oil, its status as a superpower involved in international disputes puts it in a diplomatic stranglehold that forces it to tread cautiously even with “pariahs,” as President Joe Biden called Saudi Arabia during the 2020 election campaign.

The Biden administration is trying to rebuild the Mideast scaffolding that it started to dismantle, as it strives to shore up its sanctions policy without destroying the global economy. Observers are watching to see if Biden’s determination to get Russia out of Ukraine will lead him to walk back some of the statements that poisoned his relationship with regional leaders.