JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
The Son King: Reform and Repression in Saudi Arabia
by Madawi al-Rasheed
(Hurst, £20)
THE West’s perverse relationship with the Saudi ruling family has come under renewed spotlight in recent years with the regime’s devastating war in Yemen and the murder of regime insider-turned-dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Exiled Saudi analyst Madawi al-Rasheed has become an authority on the vicious antics of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since he came to power after his father succeeded to the throne in 2015.
History shows from Iraq to Libya, and now Iran, that regime-change fantasies rarely deliver stability — but they always deliver human and economic cost, says MARYAM ESLAMDOUST
Trump threatens war and punitive tariffs to recapture Iranian resources – just as in 1953, when the CIA overthrew Mossadegh and US corporations immediately seized 40% of the oil, says SEVIM DAGDELEN
As Saudi Arabia is hailed abroad for its ‘reforms,’ the reality for women inside the kingdom grows ever more repressive. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, MARYAM ALDOSSARI argues it is time to stop applauding the illusion – and start listening to the women the state works hardest to silence


