Washington Should Challenge Riyadh Over Treatment of Women Activists

by Brian Dooley The news last Friday that Saudi Arabia will send tortured women’s rights activists to trial is another key test of U.S.-Saudi relations. The announcement came just three days after President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, Jared Kushner, met with Saudi Arabia’s… Continue Reading

The U.S. Role in Hardening Hard Lines in the Middle East

by Paul R. Pillar Realism in foreign policy recognizes that all countries have some interests that conflict and some that conform with the interests of one’s own country. A U.S. foreign policy grounded in realism would see all countries as… Continue Reading

China and Saudi Arabia: The Xinjiang Factor

by Giorgio Cafiero As the Jamal Khashoggi affair and the ongoing war in Yemen continually increase the amount of criticism that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) receives in Western countries, he embarked this month on a three-leg… Continue Reading

Imran Khan’s Faustian Bargain with Saudi Arabia

by Kaveh L. Afrasiabi There is now a growing conviction in Iran that Pakistan has for all practical purposes turned into an ally of Iran’s regional bete noire, namely Saudi Arabia. Its much-dreaded crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), received… Continue Reading

Interview with Sarah Aziza on Saudi repression of Women

by Janine Jackson When Saudi Arabia officially lifted a ban on women driving last June, it made for a great photo-op. Time magazine had a video feature in which they rode along with the country’s first women taxi drivers. 60… Continue Reading