6 Items

People inspect the wreckage of buildings that were damaged by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.

AP Photo/Hani Mohammed

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Significance of the Iran-Saudi Arabia Agreement Brokered by China

| Mar. 14, 2023

Belfer Center experts on the U.S.-China relationship and Middle East issues shared thoughts on the significance of the unexpected Iran-Saudi Arabia agreement brokered by China. 

This May. 3, 2009, file photo shows an oil facility in Jubeil, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File

Analysis & Opinions - The Wall Street Journal

Oil Becomes a Risky Game for Saudis

| May 17, 2020

President Trump is playing a tense poker game with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The stakes are America’s oil industry and the U.S.-Saudi alliance.

The 34-year-old prince and the president have been fast friends since Mr. Trump chose Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip and received a lavish welcome. The president stood by the prince when he severed relations with Qatar, and again when he was accused of approving the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. But now the prince is threatening America’s oil industry, U.S. national security and Mr. Trump’s re-election prospects.

Photo of Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and the OPEC Secretary General of Nigeria speak to journalists prior to a meeting of OPED in Nov. 2017

(AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

Analysis & Opinions - Wall Street Journal

Rising Oil Prices Are Bad News for Saudi Arabia

| Sep. 26, 2018

Oil prices are on their way up. Iranian sales have declined under pressure of a U.S. embargo. Venezuelan production is disintegrating apace with the country. Saudi production is nearing its limit, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries shows no sign of increasing production. Brent crude futures topped $80 a barrel Tuesday and may reach $100 before the end of the year.

Good news for oil-rich Saudi Arabia? In the very short run the answer is yes. But an increase in oil revenue only compounds the kingdom’s larger problems of economic and social malaise.

In this Wednesday, June 21 , 2017 photo released by Al-Ekhbariya, Mohammed bin Salman, newly appointed as crown prince, left, kisses the hand of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef at royal palace in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday appointed his 31-year-old son Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince, placing him first-in-line to the throne and removing the country's counterterrorism czar and a figure well-known to Washington from the line of succession. (Al-Ekhbariya via AP)

Al-Ekhbariya via AP

Analysis & Opinions - The Wall Street Journal

This Is Not Your Father’s Saudi Arabia

| June 21, 2017

"The appointment of Mohammad bin Salman, 31, as Saudi Arabia’s next king will accelerate his radical reform and further solidify the U.S.-Saudi partnership. King Salman’s long-anticipated decision to name his son crown prince almost certainly is intended to present a unified face to the kingdom’s adversaries, especially Iran—and to bolster U.S. support for a more assertive Riyadh."