Thank you for joining us at the Project on Middle East Democracy offices:

Wednesday, March 21, 2018
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
1730 Rhode Island Avenue, Suite 617
Washington, DC 20036

Featuring:

Hala Aldosari
Scholar-activist from Saudi Arabia;
Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi journalist; Global Opinions columnist, Washington Post;
Former editor-in-chief Al-Arab News Channel

Read a transcript of Jamal Khashoggi’s remarks at the event here.

Kristian Ulrichsen
Middle East Fellow, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy;
Associate Fellow, Chatham House

Tamara Cofman Wittes
Senior Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy,
Brookings Institution
 
Moderator:

Andrew Miller
Deputy Director for Policy, POMED;
Former White House and State Department Middle East Official

Background

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will be in Washington, D.C., March 19-22, the third stop on his first foreign trip as crown prince. Mohammed bin Salman has been heralded as a great reformer in some circles for his vision of modernizing aspects of religious, social, and economic life in the Kingdom. His efforts to loosen restrictions on Saudi women, in particular, have won wide acclaim. However, as the Washington Post editorial board noted, “The problem is that the [crown prince’s] liberalizing steps have been accompanied by even bolder acts of repression.”What is Mohammed bin Salman trying to achieve with these seemingly conflictual policies? Do his reforms presage further modernization measures or are they instead intended to consolidate his and his family’s grip on the Saudi state? Will the crown prince’s style of wholly top-down reform succeed? What does it mean for the future of this important country, and for the future of U.S.-Saudi relations?

For more, see the fact sheet “Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia: A Closer Look.”