Saudi Arabia faces unprecedented pressure over the fate of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who disappeared after entering its consulate in Istanbul last week and is believed to have been murdered there. A bipartisan group of senators has forced a US investigation to determine whether sanctions should be imposed under the Magnitsky Act. Bob Corker, the Republican chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said he believed the Saudis killed Mr Khashoggi; his colleague Lindsey Graham said there would be “hell to pay” if so. Even Donald Trump told reporters: “We can’t let this happen.” The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has warned that “friendships depend on shared values”.
But when someone shows you who they are, you should believe them the first time. Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, has done so many times. Western countries did not want to take heed. Their transactional relationships with Riyadh predated the rise of the 33-year-old, and were impervious to its appalling human rights record – arms sales, domestic security concerns and the belief that it was a force for stability in the region took priority. The crown prince’s grand economic promises and social reforms, such as allowing women to drive, won him praise internationally but were accompanied by a sharp crackdown on dissent. Saudi power is now more concentrated, more brutal, more impatient, more impetuous – and more confident that it can act as it sees fit thanks to the embrace of Mr Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
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