Why the U.S. Empire Is Now Trapped, Panicked, and Doomed

20 September 2026, posted by Eric Zuesse. (All of my recent articles can be seen here.)

https://theduran.com/mbs-is-trapped-europe-is-doomed/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BOllgX5n2E

“MBS Is Trapped. Europe is Doomed”

20 September 2026, Alexander Mercouris and Alex Christoforou

The Duran: Episode 2628

00:00:00 Diesel and oil prices spike as MBS runs out of options

00:00:53 Saudi Arabia boxed in by Houthis Iran and a lost pipeline

00:03:16 Saudi Arabia stops exporting oil entirely

00:05:09 MBS pressures Trump to bomb the Houthis

00:07:47 Saudi Arabia bet everything on Trump and Kushner

00:10:04 Saudis feel betrayed as Washington stays silent

00:11:09 Why calling Putin could be Saudi Arabia’s only move

00:14:27 Regime change fears keep MBS boxed in

00:15:13 Destroyed pipeline cuts oil to Poland and the Baltics

00:17:18 Europe’s diesel crisis deepens as France hits fuel shortages

[I boldface 16:35-20:27 because it describes the crux of the coming collapse of the U.S. empire.]

00:00

CHRISTOFOROU: All right, Alexander, let’s talk about what is happening in the Middle East. >> MERCOURIS: Yes. >> CHRISTOFOROU: What is happening with with Saudi Arabia, with MBS, with the rising diesel >> MERCOURIS: Yeah. >> CHRISTOFOROU:  over over six 30, I believe, in in the United States. Yeah. Uh some places in California, it’s even

00:20

hit 10 10 dollars. >> MERCOURIS: Yeah. >> CHRISTOFOROU:  Uh that’s that’s what I’ve I’ve read. I’ve seen some some places which say 10 dollars. I don’t know how how true that is, but uh diesel continues to rise. And uh and oil prices continue to to rise. And uh MBS looks like he is in uh in big

00:39

trouble. He does not have the Strait of Hormuz. He does not have the al-Mandab Strait. He does not have the East-West pipeline. And uh and the Houthis continue to advance. The United States does not appear ready or willing to to help uh MBS. So, he’s in uh in a bit of a bind.

0:53

Saudi Arabia boxed in by Houthis Iran and a lost pipeline

01:00

What do you make of the situation going on in the Middle East? >> MERCOURIS: MBS is MBS is in a bind. And I should say that Saudi Arabia is in a bind. I Look at Look at Saudi >> CHRISTOFOROU: And Europe is in a bind. We’ll get to that as the video goes along. And Europe is in a bind.

01:14

>> MERCOURIS: I mean Look at Look at the situation. He’s got the the Saudis now have the uh the Houthis in the south. They are clearly uh winning in Yemen. They [Houthis] already control the Red Sea coast of Yemen. They control the al-Mandab Strait, exactly as

01:34

you said. They’re striking Saudi oil installations and other installations in southern Saudi Arabia. And they’re shooting down Saudi fighter jets. By the way, we’ve had that happen, as well. There’s actual film of it. There are the

01:49

Iraqi militias in the north who are also launching drone strikes at Saudi Arabian installations and who are being blamed for uh damaging, and it’s now clear the damage was very substantial, damaging the East-West pipeline that Saudi Arabia has, which Saudi Arabia was using to

02:14

send oil to the Red Sea, to the Red Sea ports. So, that pipeline has had to be closed. And then, the Saudis look East, and they have the Iranians and the Strait of Hormuz closed, and the constant fear and threat of Iran also conducting strikes against Saudi Arabia now, as it did

02:39

during the fighting that took place earlier this year between the United States and Iran in March. We now know that the Saudis participated in the US air offensive against Iran, and the Iranians, on their part, launched missile strikes against

02:58

American bases in Saudi Arabia, and that some Saudi installations, oil installations, were severely damaged over the course of that war, and has still not been repaired. Saudi Arabia cannot export oil. Um we we’ve had the

3:16

Saudi Arabia stops exporting oil entirely

03:16

unprecedented situation, for the first time, I think, in its modern history, Saudi Arabia has gone through a period when it is not exporting oil at all. It has told the Europeans, “We cannot supply you with oil at this time. We are

03:36

not in a position to export it.” Um Saudi Arabia is also, by many reports now, running out of air defense interceptors, Patriot missiles. In other words, they’ve given up hope of getting any Patriot missiles from the United States because we know that American

03:58

inventories of Patriot missiles are severely run down and the US needs all the Patriot missiles it has to protect its its one remaining functioning base in the region which is the base in Jordan and Israel as well. Where the Americans now also by the way appear to have troops. So they can’t get

04:22

missiles air defense missiles from the Europeans. They’re now asking the sorry for the Americans. They’re now asking the Europeans for air defense missiles. They say the Americans aren’t helping us. We are absolutely crucial to your long-term economic future. And well, of course as we know the

04:42

Europeans are also receiving please for air defense missiles from Ukraine. So Saudi Arabia is now competing with Ukraine for delivery of what few air defense missile interceptors uh Europe still has. So the Saudis are in an extremely difficult position.

05:09

MBS telephoned Trump twice asking Trump to bomb the Houthis. We’ve discussed

5:09

MBS pressures Trump to bomb the Houthis

05:17

this in previous program a previous program and pointed out that bombing the Houthis is not going to in itself make any difference. But I think one of the reasons why MBS wanted Trump to bomb the Houthis is because it would have been seen in Saudi Arabia

05:36

as an overt step by the United States to back not Saudi Arabia as such but MBS personally, that the United States was responding to MBS’s request and was therefore backing him. The fact that the United States is not prepared to bomb the Houthis, is pretending that it has some deal with

06:03

the Houthis, which of course the Houthis are denying. Um that must have damaged MBS’s standing in Saudi Arabia itself. There’s been two big articles in the British media about MBS’s position. One in the FT, the Financial Times, one in the Daily Telegraph. Both insisted that despite all of the

06:31

enormous problems which they admit um are unprecedented in Saudi Arabia’s history, MBS’s position within Saudi Arabia is secure. Perhaps it is. Perhaps it is, but my own sense is that the telephone calls to Trump tell us somewhat different story and I would add that in Saudi Arabia um

06:59

they have had a history of people who appeared to be powerful and untouchable being suddenly removed. And in the 1960s, they actually managed to maneuver out of power. They actually deposed one of their kings. So, I am not going to speculate too much about the internal situation within Saudi Arabia.

07:29

But personally, I think it is inconceivable that there is not some private criticism of MBS and some comments that he’s left brought Saudi Arabia to this terrible situation. And well, maybe maybe it’s time that he

7:47

Saudi Arabia bet everything on Trump and Kushner

07:49

stepped aside. >> CHRISTOFOROU: It’s very strange what’s happening with MBS and and Trump. Let’s say the Trump family, the Trump organization because MBS and Saudi Arabia was very very connected to to Trump, very connected to the Trump family, to Kushner. They have

08:06

investments, business dealings. And the reason Saudi Arabia invested so much in in Trump and and the Trump family and all all of these these funds that they have going and and God knows what else they they have. Is is in order to secure their position with the United States.

08:22

I mean, they they they ditched their path towards BRICS knowing that Trump was going to to win the election, that Trump was going to be president and MBS and and all of these Saudis with MBS, they went full in with with Trump. And and they have invested a lot of money. They’ve given a lot of money to

08:39

to the US and and to to the Trump apparatus, let’s say. Whatever that entails in order to to to make sure that they’re going to be okay. And now they’re not okay. >> MERCOURIS: Well, they made a disastrous mistake. I mean, while Biden was president, they they

08:59

>> Biden hated MBS. >> Yeah, Biden hated MBS. MBS hated Biden. So, MBS dabbled with rapprochement with Iran and BRICS membership and all of that. But the moment it appeared like Trump was coming back to the presidency, he rejected in October 2024 the offer of

09:22

BRICS membership and went with the Americans. Oh, it was a terrible mistake. And well, we now see the results because Saudi Arabia um placed over reliance on Donald Trump and over reliance on the United States. They obviously assumed that the Americans were more powerful or

09:44

more willing to exert power in the Middle East than they really are. And there’s now stories appearing in the Israeli media which are well connected with uh people in Saudi Arabia by them by the way saying that the Saudis are {quote} disappointed with the Americans. They’re

10:04

Saudis feel betrayed as Washington stays silent

10:04

not disappointed, they’re furious and they feel deeply betrayed. Now, the big question is what does MBS what do the Saudis do in this situation? And it’s very difficult. Um the Iranians by now won’t don’t trust them. The Houthis are outright hostile. The Shia militias are outright hostile.

10:31

The Saudi military has taken on the Houthis before and has lost. The Saudi Air Force well, it can do a lot of damage in Yemen, but it can’t defeat the Houthis. So, what do the Saudis actually do in this situation? Well, one option would since all all attempts to get the Americans to

10:56

help is failing, one option would be to again talk to BRICS. Maybe not to Xi Jinping. Call Putin. >> But call Putin. >> [laughter]

11:09

Why calling Putin could be Saudi Arabia’s only move

11:10

>> Putin has always had a good relationship with MBS. They work, well, they worked not always well. They’ve actually had their arguments, but they they’ve they’ve managed to cooperate mostly on oil oil related issues. Call Putin. Putin probably at this time has more influence on Iran than any

11:33

other world leader. Call him. I should quickly add by the way that Pakistan, remember MBS forged that alliance with Pakistan? You know, I, I’m going to make a guess. I think that the Saudis were getting the they were they were they were sensing that things are going to go

11:50

wrong soon. And so, they rushed through this alliance with Pakistan and Turkey hoping that that would then secure their position if the Americans weren’t able to help. The Pakistanis are now saying, “Well, actually this isn’t for that purpose. It’s intended to create a new

12:09

security architecture in the Persian Gulf area. Let’s ask the Iranians to join.” I don’t think that was the Saudi intention at all, MBS’s original intention at all. So, call Putin. Putin has some influence over the Iranians. The Iranians still have influence over the Houthis. See

12:30

what Putin can do in this situation. He might be able to do something. I’m not sure what he can do. I mean, Putin is not a magician, but he likes MBS. He’s had a good relationship with MBS. The Russians have worked hard to develop a good relationship with Saudi Arabia

12:50

overall. So, call Putin. He hasn’t done that up to now. MBS has not contacted the Russians. Maybe he feels angry towards them, too, because they’ve been helping the Iranians, which they have, by the way. But, well, what MBS needs to say to himself is the Russians helping the

13:13

Iranians mean the Russians have leverage over the the Iranians. So, they’re obvious they’re the obvious people I need to call. >> Yeah, but I I agree with you. You call Putin. Maybe you try to return to to that place that you were before Trump was elected.

13:32

Uh before you started to move away from BRICS, you had an agreement with Iran, which was mediated and brokered uh via China. So, you had uh a normalization of ties with Iran. You were on your your way towards uh towards BRICS. >> Yeah.

13:48

>> You will have to give up Yemen. >> Yeah. >> That’s going to be one one obvious requirement. So, be it. Saudi Arabia is is out of Yemen. >> Yeah. >> And and the Houthis, they take over. Okay, it is what it is. But uh but at least you preserve your your place as as MBS as Saudi Arabia. >> Yeah.

14:10

>> And and you get back to to a better a better time before all of all all of this started up, which was what when when when uh when China brokered that deal with Iran. Saudi Arabia really looked like it was it was on the right track. I mean, things were changing. Things were moving for the

14:27

Regime change fears keep MBS boxed in

14:28

better for Saudi Arabia. >> Yeah. Yes. >> The problem is that if MBS were to do that, the United States would smash him. >> Yes. >> Regime change tomorrow. >> Yes. >> And they could probably pull it off. >> I think probably can, yeah. >> So,

14:46

>> So, I mean, he he’s he’s he’s he’s he’s stuck. I mean, he’s in a trap, and you can sense this. I mean, notice how quiet he’s been. >> Yeah. Maybe he’s thinking it’ll just all go away. >> Well, that [laughter] was some sometimes

14:60

Sometimes in this kind of situation, that’s exactly what people do. When when the problems become too too great, they just um opt out of dealing with them. >> CHRISTOFOROU: All right. So, let’s uh let’s shift gears a little bit and talk about the

15:13

Destroyed pipeline cuts oil to Poland and the Baltics

15:15

fact that Saudi Arabia, because of the East-West pipeline being destroyed, and because the reports are now saying at a it will it will need 6 weeks around November to to to be fixed maybe. That’s best case scenario. Uh Saudi has cut off the the oil to to

15:36

the Europeans. This is going to affect Poland a whole lot because Poland uh they they refine about 40% of uh Saudi crude. Mhm. And that’s going to affect the Baltic countries which are also getting a lot of their their oil from Poland from the Poland uh refineries. So uh there was a shipment that was

15:53

supposed to go to the Europeans in September. That’s not coming through. They’re also there’s also oil that was going to to go from Libya to the Europeans. That’s not coming through either. So big problems for for Europe. And and there are talks now in the US

16:11

that uh they may put an export ban on diesel. The Americans. Yes. They’re just talking about it now but the fact that it’s it’s in the media leads me to believe that that this could happen especially if diesel continues to rise. You know we said in many videos uh Alexander going

16:27

back uh a year ago when the Europeans were were talking about cutting off Russia and the US was going to be the the only game in town. We said that that

16:35 one of these days Trump’s going to wake up and his administration’s going to going to start the day and and they’re going

16:42

to say you know what? We need to, we need to cut off uh energy to to Europe for XY XYZ reasons, and it looks like that day might be coming. >> MERCOURIS: Yeah. Absolutely. That’s exactly what’s going to happen. I I I I think this is a massive crisis for Europe. Um

16:60

they’re not getting they’re not getting gas from Russia anymore, pipeline gas from Russia anymore. They’re still importing LNG, but bear in mind LNG they’re supposed to stop importing in January. That was a crazy decision but that’s what they decided to do. Gas reserves

17:18

Europe’s diesel crisis deepens as France hits fuel shortages

17:18

are very low in Europe. I mean, critically low. Uh unusually low for this time of year. And now we have on top of all of that an oil shortage, a gasoline shortage already, and diesel is becoming extremely difficult. Um the entire industrial economy works

17:41

on diesel. Trains move on diesel, um trucks move on diesel, agricultural goods move on diesel, ships move on diesel, um production uh some machines in factories also use diesel. Diesel is the oil, the refined oil, that an economy needs in order to function. By the way, militaries need diesel as well.

18:11

This is an absolute disaster. You would have imagined, you would have thought, that it would be the priority issue in Europe today, that the European leaders would be meeting together, they would be talking about what to do about the diesel, the oncoming diesel crisis, the oncoming

18:35

natural gas crisis, um gas prices um reached in the year European Union the same level they’d hit in December 2022. And we’re still very early on in the year, just say. Um you’d think that they would be talking all about that and trying to

18:55

find a way to prepare Europe for the winter. I see no evidence that they’re doing anything of the kind. At the moment, what they’re doing is talking to each other about seizing the Russian assets and [laughter] uh sending more money to their dear friend Zelenskyy in Ukraine. That is their

19:15

priority, it seems. >> CHRISTOFOROU: You’re talking about Canada, bringing in Canada >> MERCOURUS: of course. That’s right, just associate member >> CHRISTOFOROU: a plan to get to to get the oil and and energy from Canada? Is that their their master plan? >> MERCOURIS: Well, it may be, but you get I mean, first of all, um it’s one, it’s not

19:30

going to happen because um the obvious place for Canada to sell its oil is the United States, and that’s going to remain the case. I mean, there is no uh there is no real realistic alternative. But, the Canadian oil needs an enormous

19:47

amount of refining. And European refiners are not going to refine it. I mean, it’s as simple as that. So, I mean, you know, you mentioned Poland refining Saudi oil. Saudi oil is completely different from Canadian oil. I mean, before that happens, it would take

20:08

years. I mean, it’s again Ursula’s perhaps that’s, you know, Ursula’s Ursula’s latest idea here. Um but, I mean, if this is a plan for how to deal with the crisis this winter, then she’s taken leave of her senses. That’s all I That’s all I can say.

20:27

>> CHRISTOROU: I think they’re very similar to to MBS, the Europeans. They’re just kind of keeping busy with other stuff, hoping that that the big problem will just kind of go away. >> MERCOURIS: Yeah, well, that’s that’s what a lot of people do when they face a problem that looks uh so overwhelming that they can’t

20:42

cope with it. Instead of trying to cope with it, trying to get on top of it, and then asking themselves the serious questions that they don’t want to ask themselves, um um they are doing exactly what they what you said. You know, we have this metaphor in England. I don’t know whether it exists

20:60

in other places. It’s about the ostrich putting its head in the sand, not looking around even as everything closes in around it. And that’s exactly what we’re doing in Europe. >> CHRISTOFOROU: Yeah, they don’t seem interested in in the whole energy thing. >> MERCOURIS: No. No. >>CHRISTOFOROU:  At all. >> MERCOURIS: No.

21:15

>> CHRISTOFOROU: Yeah. Um France has, just to wrap up the video, France is is also now going through through some >> MERCOURIS: fuel shortages >> CHRISTOFOROU: gas shortages, fuel shortages. >>  absolutely. >> Around 10% of of the gas stations, according to Le Figaro >> Yeah. >> they’re having gas problems, storage

21:33

problems. It And interesting supply problem, sorry. Interesting that it was it was Macron who was cheering on the the attack on Russian oil refineries and and they were propagating the whole Russian fuel shortage crisis. And now look, France is is in a mess.

21:51

>> MERCOURIS: Yes, but you must never say that. You never make those comparisons. I mean, you know, the two are obviously completely unconnected with each other. And of course, fuel shortages in France, I mean, you know, they they they they Um

22:06

um one thing, but the important thing is that the great Ukrainian military must go forward and win the war. That is the overriding priority of all. So, you know, and that that But you’re absolutely right. I mean we started uh we started the last few months with stories about fuel shortages in Russia.

22:30

The actual fuel shortages are actually now starting to happen in Europe. >> CHRISTOFOROU: Yeah. All right, we will end the video there. We are on Substack. We are on Locals. And also check us out on the Duran Shop. Links are in the description box down below. Take care.

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.