A Wiser U.S. Check on MBS's Power

U.S. President Joe Biden has taken a much harder line toward Saudi Arabia than did his predecessor. Whereas President Donald Trump’s administration coddled the country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often referred to by the initials MBS, Biden has released damning information about MBS’s involvement in the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, sanctioned a long list of Saudi officials thought to be involved in the murder plot and other harassment of dissidents, and slashed military aid to the kingdom. But this stark recalibration of relations with Saudi Arabia has not been enough for many critics of MBS.