From this year forward, longtime U.S. ally Saudi Arabia will supply more oil to China than the U.S. In 2010, the Middle East and Saudi Arabia accounted for 18% and 12% of U.S. crude oil imports, respectively. That same year, 46% of China’s crude oil imports originated in the Middle East and 19% came from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While U.S. demand for oil has plateaued, China’s demand is expected to increase rapidly for at least the next two decades.

On June 17, 2011, King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced a series of proposed amendments to the country’s constitution. The Moroccan constitutional reforms are significant and unprecedented in the Arab world, as King Mohammed VI is clearly attempting to get in front of the demands for change sweeping the Middle East. Ambassador Edward M. Gabriel – the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco from November 1997 to March 2001 – discussed the constitutional reforms with Foreign Policy Digest.