The U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Explained (by a Nihilist)

Suffering is temporary, uranium is forever

The Trump administration announced a nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia earlier this week, clearing the way for the kingdom to eventually enrich its own uranium. While the announcement came as a surprise, Saudi Arabia has become an increasingly close ally of the Trump family, having recently invested $2 billion in Jared Kushner's private equity firm, plus approving a $1 billion Trump-branded development in Jeddah. What a beautiful friendship!

Critics of the president have pointed out the deal’s awkward timing. Trump entered America’s current war in the Middle East on the stated grounds of stopping the Islamic government in Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Then he turned around and created a path for the Islamic government in Saudi Arabia, which has its own somewhat notable history of friction with America, to do exactly the same thing.

However, viewed from a slightly wider lens — the widest lens, really — the deal makes perfect sense. Here's the breakdown, courtesy of our in-house Nihilist.

What is the deal?

It’s a 30-year agreement that lets American companies build Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear program, with the possibility of uranium enrichment down the road.

When the deal ends, all that will remain is the uranium, indifferent to treaties and to those who sign them, its atoms slowly decaying until the planet itself has forgotten any conception of “man.”