Biden’s Saudi Arabia Opportunity
The president’s first trip to the Middle East offers a chance to make meaningful gains.
Raif Badawi
Saudi Arabia Sentences Aid Worker to 20 Years
Saudi Arabia last week sentenced Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a 37-year-old aid worker for the Saudi Red Crescent, to 20 years of imprisonment followed by a 20-year travel ban for tweets criticizing the government,...
Policy Briefs
Riyadh Seeks Biden’s Forgiveness
Saudi Arabia has freed activists and announced reforms, but must do more to win the new team’s favor.
Op-eds
Note to Mohammed bin Salman: Stop Digging Yourself Deeper
The Saudis need to get on Biden’s good side. Obvious places to start include releasing women’s rights activists.
Op-eds
To Preserve U.S.-Saudi Ties, Riyadh Needs to Reset its Rights Record
Salah Khashoggi, eldest son of murdered Saudi journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi, arrived in the U.S. last week after the Saudi gover...
Policy Briefs
Killing Khashoggi
It must bring consequences – not including a break in U.S.-Saudi relations
Op-eds
Crown Prince Must Improve Saudi Human Rights Record to be a True Reformer
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit the...
Policy Briefs
The man who would be Saudi king
Mohammad bin Salman is a young man in a hurry. When I visited Saudi Arabia back in February he was only the deputy cro...
Op-eds
Letting freedom fade
Whatever happened to Charlie Hebdo? For years, the French satirical magazine threw spit balls at polite society. Its writers and cartoonists particularly delighted in ridiculing religions and pie...
Op-eds
A Backlash Builds Against Saudi Salafism
The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have once again put Saudi Arabia's brand of Salafi Islam, known as Wahhabism, under the microscope. In both Europe and the United Sta...
Op-eds
An Unhappy United Nations Birthday
Did it escape your attention that last month was the 70th birthday of the United Nations? Did you miss the opportunity to celebrate by following Elyx on an “exciting 70-day (virtual) trip a...
Op-eds
Meet Saudi Arabia’s Biggest (and Most Controversial) Twitter Star
Saudi Arabia is changing, some say. The authoritarian desert kingdom is becoming more responsive to the will of its people and the demands of the global information economy, say others. This idea...