The Saudi Arabia that U.S. President Joe Biden will visit this week is a country being actively reshaped by the whims and visions of one man: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
As the de facto ruler of the oil-rich monarchy, the 36-year-old prince has cast himself as a reformer, loosening some restrictions of ultraconservative Islam by permitting women to drive and allowing once-forbidden cinemas and concerts.
But the crown prince’s rule has also been defined by his institutionalization of force — both to quash domestic dissent and to pursue a more muscular foreign policy. Stepping beyond the old Saudi model of quietly cultivating influence with cash-driven diplomacy, Crown Prince Mohammed has bombed Yemen, moved aggressively to jail activists and critics and, according to the CIA, dispatched the hit squad that murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.