Who is John Abizaid? Top US general becomes Trump’s man in Riyadh

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped a top US general from the Iraq War as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, amid growing friction between the long-standing allies.

But who is John Abizaid?

A fluent Arabic speaker, Abizaid, 67, has studied the Middle East for years. Of Lebanese Christian descent, he rose to the top position at US Central Command during the Iraq War, leading it from 2003 to 2007.

US President Donald Trump has taken a liking to former generals in senior positions. Jim Mattis serves as his Pentagon chief and John Kelly remains his chief of staff.

The four-star general’s latest position takes him to another major centre of western activity in the Middle East: Riyadh.

When a student at Harvard University, he penned his thesis on Saudi Arabia. He focused on Saudi defence spending decisions and his paper won high praise from fellow academics.

He is now a consultant and a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

In Iraq, he had the foresight to see that the Americans were facing a “classical guerrilla-type campaign” from the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, while his counterparts pushed the line that they had secured a “quick victory”.

Washington and Riyadh have had tense relations since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr Trump has threatened consequences for Saudi Arabia after Riyadh's public prosecutor admitted Khashoggi had been killed in a premeditated rogue operation at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month.

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John Bolton vows to 'squeeze' Iran after UAE visit

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But he appears to reluctant to end arms sales to the Gulf kingdom amid a lack of hard evidence that directly incriminates the Saudi leadership. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman deny any prior knowledge of the incident.

While navigating that crisis, Mr Abizaid's role will probably include pushing American lines on regional issues such as Yemen, where Washington has called for a ceasefire, and Iran, where US President Donald Trump has advocated a tough line, imposing sanctions on the country that serves as Saudi's prominent regional rival.

But, soon after retiring in 2007, Abizaid said that while the United States should try to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, "there are ways to live with a nuclear Iran", describing the clerical state's behaviour as rational and noting the United States had once dealt with a nuclear-armed Soviet Union.

Mr Trump has not had anyone in the position since he was inaugurated in January last year, even though he made Riyadh his first foreign visit.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

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