Tag: saudi arabia

Will the Saudis and Donald Trump Save Golf—or Wreck It? High-level defections! Tiger Woods and Jared Kushner! Lawsuits and blacklists! Is the new LIV league a way to reward players, or the vanity project of a despot, or something else? via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/24/will-the-saudis-and-donald-trump-save-golf-or-wreck-it To appeal to the Dubai-inclined, M.B.S. has lifted a ban […]

Saudi Arabia Astroturfs the Golf Course Mohammed bin Salman has bankrolled a new rival to the P.G.A. Tour. What’s behind it? via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/saudi-arabia-astroturfs-the-golf-course The clubs’ names were created by an advisory group of fourth-grade boys, apparently: Crushers, Fireballs, Hy Flyers, Iron Heads, Punch, Torque, Smash.

‘This Is Uncomfortable’: Saudi Arabia Upends Genteel World of Pro Golf By promising top players multimillion-dollar paydays, the kingdom moved beyond investing in a sport and made a play to control one. Then the PGA Tour struck back. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/sports/golf/liv-golf-pga-tour.html “If Saudi Arabia want to use the game of golf as a way for them […]

Opinion: When and how should journalists interview autocrats? An Atlantic interview with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman drew criticism — and raised important questions about journalism. via Poynter: https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2022/when-and-how-should-journalists-interview-autocrats/ There still isn’t a consensus on this. Some believe that The Atlantic handed Salman a megaphone and didn’t do enough to tamp down his […]

The Sweeping Impact of a Broken Biden Campaign Promise By not holding Saudi Arabia’s leader to account for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the President has emboldened despots worldwide. via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/biden-betrayed-his-promise-to-defend-human-rights-and-jamal-khashoggi Since 2015, the Crown Prince has also got the country bogged down in a costly and unwinnable war in Yemen, which […]

The Dark Reality Behind Saudi Arabia’s Utopian Dreams (Published 2021) Mohammed bin Salman’s absurd plan for the Line — a 106-mile long city with no cars and no roads — comes with a grisly human price. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/magazine/saudi-arabia-neom-the-line.html The film’s final words, spoken as a multicultural parade of faces flickers across the screen, are deliciously […]