![]() ![]() For instance, with Russia’s self-inflicted implosion in Ukraine gutting Moscow’s place as a global hydrocarbon power, Saudi Arabia’s leverage over oil competitors has only increased since the expanded war began. Part of MBS’s extraordinary 2022 stemmed, in part, from realities beyond his control. And now, with Russia’s Vladimir Putin flailing in Ukraine and China’s Xi Jinping facing more domestic unrest than he’s seen in years, it’s safe to say that no kleptocratic dictator had a better year than this purported pariah. If anything, after the Biden administration’s much-ballyhooed opening gambit against MBS, Washington’s relations with Riyadh have drearily reverted to form-leaving MBS in an even stronger position than he was from the outset. All of it built toward Biden’s aim of completely restructuring the U.S.-Saudi relationship-and turning MBS, as Biden said, into a “ pariah.”īut nearly two years on, it’s clear that the effort to isolate MBS has effectively failed. The move was part of a far broader salvo from the Biden administration against MBS’s regime, which included things like freezing arms sales and lifting the “ terrorist” designation for Yemen’s Houthi rebels. ![]() According to the assessment, MBS “approved” Khashoggi’s murder and supported “using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad.” ![]() As the text revealed, the man ultimately responsible for Khashoggi’s death was none other than Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman, or MBS. In early 2021, just a few weeks into President Joe Biden’s first term as president, his administration released a bombshell report about the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. ![]()
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