U.S. investigates harassment of Saudi dissidents

A man who came to the United States on a student visa for schooling that he said was being paid for by his employer, the Saudi Royal Court. Prosecutors accused him last week of harassing Saudis in America. One Saudi dissident in the U.S. said he receives online death threats daily. He blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman “on top of this oil well ... with all of this power, he will always think that he can get away with murder.” President Joe Biden Sunday defended his plans to go to Saudi Arabia this week, despite his long-standing criticism of the kingdom’s human rights record.

Class discussion: A U.S. intelligence report concluded that the crown prince approved the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Why do you think the U.S. has taken a restrained approach to reports of Saudi Arabian repression, while sanctioning other nations like Russia, Cuba or Venezuela? What is the best way to respond to authoritarian regimes abusing human rights – isolating them for decades like Cuba or continuing to do business with them like Saudi Arabia?? Short of war, how much can any nation do to change the behavior of another government?