Name: Both U.S. and Canada are seeking a reset with Saudi Arabia
Uploaded: 2025-11-19T21:22:27.553Z
Duration: 4 min 1 s
Description: Just a few years ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was a global pariah following the 2018 murder of U.S. resident and Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Now both the U.S. and Canada are seeking a diplomatic reset with Saudi Arabia, and are courting Saudi investors, as well.

Just a few years ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was a global pariah following the 2018 murder of U.S. resident and Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Now both the U.S. and Canada are seeking a diplomatic reset with Saudi Arabia, and are courting Saudi investors, as well.

Ottawa

The United States and Canada are both working to reset their relationships with Saudi Arabia, driven by evolving political and economic interests. U.S. President Donald Trump recently welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington, signaling a significant shift in American Middle East policy. Canada, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, has also begun to re-engage with Saudi Arabia after a period of strained relations due to human rights concerns.

Diplomatic activity between Canada and Saudi Arabia has increased, with a focus on trade, investment, and pragmatic engagement. While Canadian officials remain concerned about human rights issues in Saudi Arabia, they acknowledge recent social progress and emphasize the importance of dialogue. Experts note that both countries' efforts are influenced by the need to diversify their economies and adapt to a changing global landscape.

Both U.S. and Canada are seeking a reset with Saudi Arabia

So as Karni is making efforts to build partnerships in the Middle East, so is Donald Trump. You may have seen the warm, even affectionate welcome the U.S. President extended to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House yesterday. But it wasn't so long ago that would have seemed unthinkable for an American leader. But time and circumstances have changed significantly, and now there are signs Mark Karni's government is also looking to strengthen ties with the Saudis. The CBC's Chris Brown is looking into this for us, and he joins us now from London. You've written extensively about this, and it's on our website right now, that this Washington visit is a bit of a rehabilitation or comeback visit for bin Salman. Explain what you mean by that. Well, Arati, MBS, as he's known, was really a pariah after Saudi security agents killed Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018 in an especially gruesome way. But even before that, Canada had been highly critical of the Kingdom over imprisoning activists, and that had led to a deep freeze in diplomatic trade and economic relations that really only started to be lifted in 2023. Donald Trump has now really changed the dynamic. Not only has he made Saudi Arabia the epicenter of his Middle East policy, the U.S. President has also forced Canada to look for new markets for its goods at the same time as Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify its economy as well to become less dependent on fossil fuels. I talked to former Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Denis Horak, and he said that's helped create a synergy between Canada and Saudi Arabia, despite ongoing concerns over human rights in the Kingdom. There are countries all over the world, in fact, the number of countries where there are human rights issues is a shrinking number. And so the reality of the world is it's a difficult place. It's a place which can tax our moral compass, if you will. And so we have to deal with countries, whether we like what's going on in them or not. And in fact, engaging them often is a way to have a dialogue with them on issues of concern to us. And we have already seen a great deal of renewed diplomatic activity between Canada and Saudi Arabia, including visits by their foreign minister and their investment minister to Ottawa. So then given what we've just heard and what you've been reporting on, where do human rights factor into the dynamic between Canada and Saudi Arabia now? Well, the Liberals under Mark Carney have focused largely on trade investment and a key word, engagement. Canadian diplomats I've spoken to remain concerned about the large number of executions and the lack of political freedoms in Saudi Arabia, but they also note that, for example, women have made tremendous progress in that country in just a few years. Aaron Ettinger from Carleton University has also been following the changes in Saudi society. MBS has been very, very clever about this rehabilitation. And what he has done is present himself to the world and present his country to the world as a normal country. Saudi Arabia is going out in the world and buying up soccer teams and golf tournaments and all that kind of stuff that makes it look interesting, exciting, and not the kind of rigid oil rentier state of the mid 20th century. And that's exciting for ordinary observers and for investors around the world. Professor Ettinger also said that he believes Canada's foreign policy under Mark Carney is more pragmatic than it was under Justin Trudeau. And that means if pushing too hard on human rights isn't going to get results, then the prime minister is not going to go there. This is all very interesting to consider given how Canada is trying to diversify its trade. Thank you so much for this, Chris. That is the CBC's Chris Brown in London.

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