At the annual Group of 20 gathering of world leaders in Osaka, Japan, in June, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, beamed before cameras as he stood center stage between President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a carefully choreographed group photo. He grinned as he sat with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he shook hands joyously with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the two countries struck agreements and contracts worth $8.3 billion.
The world leaders’ embrace of Mohammed was a clear signal that the young prince, who the CIA, U.S. allies and a United Nations investigator say is responsible for the savage killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, was being welcomed back, if reluctantly, into the community of nations. And it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Trump and his secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
Wednesday will mark one year since Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist, was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in that country’s consulate in Istanbul. Mohammed, who rose to power promising transformational social and economic change in one of the world’s most strategically important countries, and who was praised by prominent writers and American executives as heralding a bright future for Saudi Arabia, quickly became a pariah.