Though the crown prince had used business links, lobbying and diplomacy with fellow autocrats to somewhat restore his standing globally, he still seemed vulnerable to censure from his most important partner, the U.S.
Lawmakers, foreign policy analysts and activists who wanted to reform the U.S.-Saudi relationship saw an unprecedented opportunity for progress. They believed the Biden administration could secure concrete Saudi commitments to respect human rights and limit U.S. entanglement in Middle East tensions by becoming more cautious about arms sales and other military support.
Yet by last fall, they were already disappointed. Biden seemed to have reached the limits of his willingness to challenge Riyadh and America’s historic policy of overlooking Saudi abuses. With his current trip, the president has clearly signaled that he is not seeking a major change…
“It has been crushing for the activists in Saudi and Israel and Palestine who believed Biden. They feel completely abandoned,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, a nonprofit that Khashoggi founded before his assassination. “In my opinion, they shouldn’t have believed him because of the incentive structure in our country… the only message the Biden administration is sending us is might makes right, money makes right.”
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