How is MBS trying to reestablish his reformist credentials?
A year after the 9/11 attacks, Joel C Rosenberg published his first novel, "The Last Jihad." The book was about how an American president — a Republican — led the fight against terrorists in the wake of the worst attack on US soil.
The novel also discusses a deal of the century to bring peace between the Israelis and Palestinians by exploiting vast, fictional undersea petroleum reserves found near the Holy Land. called the book “an act of terrorism on the reader’s brain.” That didn’t stop Rosenberg from writing more novels over the years that dealt with the same theme — he now appears on Fox News as a “Russia expert.”
While on one hand Saudi women have been given some liberties such as freedom to drive cars, the Saudi government has widened a crackdown against rights activists at the same time. The visits are being seen as part of MBS’s efforts to bolster his public image in the US, where his government faces possible lawsuits over involvement in 9/11 conspiracy.
Since outmaneuvering others in the royal family to become the crown prince in 2015, MBS has tried to come across as a young reformer who wants to change the conservative society and open up its economy. In recent years, Riyadh has arrested moderate Saudi clerics such as Salman al Odah for criticising MBS’s foreign policy, which has brought to the fore a blockade against erstwhile Gulf ally, Qatar.
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