Biden’s Upcoming Middle East Trip
If there’s one regional development that all Israelis love, it’s the Abraham Accords. Can Biden get the Saudis on board?
11
Jul
22
Jun
Opinion | Not Your Grandfather’s Saudi Arabia
If you had told me three years ago that I would be invited to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a “Forum on Common Values Among Religious Followers,” I would have asked you what you were smoking.
07
Jun
Costs of Cheap Oil: Biden’s Balancing Act
Journalists abroad are paying the price for the United States’ domestic interests.
01
Apr
Book Review | Unasked Questions About Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince
MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman
By Ben Hubbard
Tim Duggan Books
384 pp., $28
Where does one begin? Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and likely its next king, emerged almost out of nowhere. His father, Salman, the current king, was not expected to be the monarch, but two older full brothers predeceased him, so Salman became crown prince in 2012. When his half-brother King Abdullah died in 2015, Salman, then aged 79, succeeded to the throne despite concern about his mental faculties.
Discarding two crown princes en route, Salman finally designated his son Mohammed, widely known as MBS, as his successor in 2017 and has allowed him almost free rein, or “reign,” ever since. So MBS, who had served as minister of defense from January 2015 and deputy crown prince from April...