Mohammed bin Normalising Relations: The Saudi diplomatic summer offensive

The New Arab Voice is back for a new season!

On our first episode of season four, we're exploring the recent diplomatic visits of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), and looking ahead to the upcoming visit by US President Joe Biden to the Gulf nation. 

Earlier in June, MbS visited Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey, where a host of new deals were struck and steps were taken to get relations that had previously taken a hit, back on track. 

Perhaps the most notable visit by the Crown Prince was his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The trip marked an end to the international isolation he had experienced, following the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. 

Why was it necessary for the Saudi Crown Prince to make the diplomatic regional tour? What does it mean for the kingdom’s regional relations? Has the Arab and Islamic world moved past recent nefarious actions attributed to MbS? And are we going to see a new chapter in Saudi-US relations. 

We speak with Ömer Özkizilcik (@OmerOzkizilcik), a foreign policy and security analyst based in the Turkish capital, Ankara, and with Gerald M. Feierstein, Senior Vice President of the Middle East Institute (@MiddleEastInst) and the former US Ambassador to Yemen, under President Obama.

This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge (@hugogoodridge). Theme music by Omar al-Fil (@elepheel). 

Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice or email hugo.goodridge@alaraby.co.uk