2025-05-13
8 分钟Hi, this is Charlotte Howard, one of the hosts of Checks and Balance, our US podcast.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
Here's an article we recommend from the latest edition of The Economist.
We hope you enjoy it.
When Donald Trump lands in Saudi Arabia on May 13th for the opening state visit of his second term in office,
a reprise of his very first state visit eight years ago,
you should pause for a moment to take in just how unexpectedly the situation has changed.
Mr Trump has become wilder and more autocratic.
By contrast, his host, the Crown Prince and de facto Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman,
MBS, has transformed his country into a force for order.
The familiar image Saudi Arabia conjures up is not just of fabulous riches but also of political repression and the subjugation of women.
The kingdom has exported religious extremism and thereby shares responsibility for the terrorism and violence that this has fomented.
Today, the country is still an autocracy.
Its crown prince does not tolerate dissent.
However, the Saudi Arabia you used to know no longer exists.
The kingdom is now a stabilizing influence in the Middle East.
At home, it has undergone a stunning social revolution that has few parallels.
The pressing question is over the third part of Saudi Arabia's transformation from a petrostate into a globalised 21st century economy.
Here, change has begun, but it is not fast enough,
with potentially grave consequences for MBS's entire project of reform.