Saudi Arabia: Mohammed Bin Nayef in Washington

Saudi interior minister Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef Bin Abdelaziz (MBN) was in Washington in mid-February, holding meetings with senior officials including secretary of state John Kerry, CIA chief John Brennan, director of the National Security Agency General Keith Alexander and secretary of homeland security Jeh Johnson. One topic for discussion will surely have been President Barack Obama’s scheduled March visit to Riyadh to see King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz (see page 10), billed as “part of regular consultations” between two allies, but widely seen as an attempt to mend a struggling relationship.