King Salman and his son: Winning the US losing the rest

This article assesses the prospects for new directions in Saudi foreign policy following the appointment of Muhammad ibn Salman as crown prince in June 2017, highlighting its continuities and discontinuities under the new leadership of King Salman and his son. It draws tentative conclusions that amidst a series of foreign policy failures, winning the favour of the US under Trump has been the major achievement of the new Saudi leadership. However, Saudi foreign policy in Europe has taken a back seat, where there are serious doubts as to the merit of the assertive interventionist Saudi regional policy. With an erratic and failing bid to control the region and emerge as a regional power on a par with Iran, Turkey and Israel, King Salman and his son have proved to be unwilling to extinguish the many fires that are currently raging across the Arab world.