Understanding MbS' Saudi Arabia with Jacob Goldberg

Monday, November 4, 2024
1:00PM Eastern Time

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has pushed a transformative agenda on Saudi Arabia since his father came to power in 2015. His Vision 2030 intends radically to reshape nearly every aspect of the kingdom’s landscape: diversify the economy’s revenue sources, redefine societal norms (notably through women’s rights and greater personal freedoms), and enhance the country’s global standing. To what extent has MbS matured from the rash young man of earlier years? How have his changes affected his role and that of the royal family? What can one expect from Saudi Arabia’s evolving foreign policy? 

Jacob Goldberg, a former senior research fellow at the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University, has long focused on Saudi Arabia; Harvard University Press published his book, The Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia: The Formative Years in 1986. He served as an officer in IDF military intelligence and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He taught at Cornell, George Washington, and the University of California, San Diego. Mr. Goldberg holds a B.A. and an L.L.B from Tel Aviv University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard. 

Israel Insider with Ashley Perry

Wednesday, November 6, 2024
3:00PM Eastern Time

How will the U.S. election impact Israel’s seven-front war?  

Ashley Perry is an advisor to the Middle East Forum’s Israel office. He served as adviser to Israel's minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in 2009-15, and has also worked with Israel's Ministers of Intelligence, Agriculture and Rural Development, Energy, Water and Infrastructure, Defense, Tourism, Internal Security, and Immigrant Absorption and as an advisor to The Negev Forum. Originally from the U.K., he moved to Israel in 2001. He holds a B.A. from University College London and an M.A. from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya).

The Middle East Forum, an activist think tank, deals with the Middle East, Islamism, U.S. foreign policy, and related topics, urging bold measures to protect Americans and their allies. Pursuing its goals via intellectual and operational means, the Forum recurrently has policy ideas adopted by the U.S. government.