Biden Can Repair a Rift and Push Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
Achieving the release and right to travel of high-profile critics would strengthen the relationship and improve the Saudis’ position in Washington.
Princely.
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images
When President Joe Biden visits Saudi Arabia next month, he’ll be moving past the antipathy he expressed during the presidential campaign toward the Saudi government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He’s right when he says that whatever his personal feelings about the Saudis’ human-rights record, the US partnership with Riyadh is indispensable, for reasons ranging from oil prices to the containment of Iran to great-power competition with China.
But Biden shouldn’t avoid raising human rights with King Salman and the crown prince, known as MBS. A serious conversation about ongoing abuses should be a win-win for the US and the Saudis.