Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the brash Saudi crown prince who strode confidently onto the world stage two years ago, now cuts a much-diminished, if not humbled, figure. His regional strongman reputation is blunted and his much-vaunted economic plans have failed to move the needle.
Pressured into an apparent acceptance of responsibility for the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and humiliated by an alleged Iranian strike that temporarily knocked out 50% of the country’s oil production capacity, Prince Mohammed — MBS as he is widely known — struggles to command respect internationally and is regarded as weak by his principal regional rival, Iran.