The Men Protecting Saudi Arabia

October 9, 2019 1:00 PM

Khashoggi’s Murder Should Have Made Saudi Arabia A Pariah. 7 Men Made Sure That Didn’t Happen. Meet the key figures behind the scenes, from a journalist-turned-lobbyist to an evangelical writer, in the effort to preserve the kingdom’s image after the killing.
posted by allkindsoftime (6 comments total)

The Washington Post has been running some very well-written in-depth features on Jamal Khashoggi. It's worth checking out.
posted by Fizz at 1:46 PM on October 9, 2019 [5 favorites]

Ugh.

Fossil Fuels, Capitalism, Misogyny, Religion...

UGH!!!
posted by Windopaene at 2:00 PM on October 9, 2019 [7 favorites]

In adjacent news, the California art biennale Desert X has announced that it will collaborate with Saudi Arabia on a new exhibition next year.

The government of Saudi Arabia, suffering from a battered image and seeking to open itself to tourism and expand cultural ties with Western countries, has found a willing partner in the Coachella Valley-based contemporary art biennial Desert X, which announced Monday that it would collaborate on an exhibition in the kingdom in early 2020. (Deborah Vankin, L.A. Times)

Thankfully, they're getting blasted in the press, and three of their most prominent board members have resigned, including artist Ed Ruscha.
posted by mykescipark at 3:35 PM on October 9, 2019 [18 favorites]

I was recently invited to participate in a major media event in Saudi Arabia as part of the country's aggressive Vision 2030 image clean-up campaign. I would have had my day rate, plus luxury travel and accomodations, paid by MBS for a considerable period of time.

I declined, as I sleep much better at night without blood money on my hands, or in my bank account.
posted by jordantwodelta at 3:49 PM on October 9, 2019 [21 favorites]

Meanwhile in a Canada, our foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland called out the Saudis on their human rights. From that we learned: if you take a basic decent principled stand on issues, no one will support you, and everyone will crap on you.
posted by ovvl at 7:04 PM on October 9, 2019 [4 favorites]

I hate to be that guy, but Extraordinarily Rich and Powerful Person Faces No Consequences for Evil Thing Everyone Knows They Did is pretty much 2019's official theme song, isn't it?

You can't dance to it, but it sure seems to be playing everywhere.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:39 AM on October 10, 2019 [4 favorites]