Saudi Arabia's crown prince is mending fences with Syria and Iran, soothing rivalries with Gulf rivals and now welcoming the Biden administration's point man on security to Jeddah. Ten months after that frosty fist bump with the US president, Mohammed bin Salman is talking peace-brokering in Sudan and a winding down of his eight-year campaign in Yemen.
Since last July, when Joe Biden visited, the same MBS has cut deals with Washington's rivals, signing unprecedented pacts with China and agreeing to oil production cuts with under-sanctions Russia. But the channels are far from cut with the US. Can Saudi Arabia be all things to all powers?
More broadly, how much has the kingdom changed – or not – since the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018? Has MBS changed and if so, in what way?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Daphné Leprince-Ringuet and Guillaume Gougeon.
