A Saudi Deputy Crown Prince in the President's Court

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is under strain. In mid-May, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously in support of a controversial bill that would enable victims of the 9/11 attacks, or their surviving family members, to sue foreign governments for damages. Meanwhile, the United States has been gradually working for several years to achieve more of a balance in its Persian Gulf relationships, engaging in a rapprochement with Saudi rival Iran. Even so, the two countries find themselves on the same side of the fight in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, and each continues to depend on the other in different ways. On his tour of the United States this week -- at the White House's invitation -- Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will demonstrate the United States' importance to the kingdom....