Are the United States and Saudi Arabia quietly drawing closer? It’s been nearly a year since we were in Jeddah covering that frosty fist bump between Joe Biden and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Critics had been quick to evoke memories of 9/11, the brutal war in Yemen and the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while Biden's hosts were irked by what they view as patronising lecturing on how to run a kingdom.
Fast forward to the present: even though the Saudis have just normalised ties with Iran and announced a further 10% cut in oil output starting next month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is out front and center and all smiles for three days of talks and summits. In a coincidence of timing, while Blinken was touching down in Jeddah the Saudis were making their shock entry into the US sports market with the merger of the breakaway LIV golf tour with the PGA. "Sportswashing", or a significant strengthening of the historic ties that bind allies in areas like defence and energy?
Produced by Charles Wente, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.
