As Saudi Arabia struggles to adjust to the drastic decline in oil revenue, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman attempts to boldly transform the country and shift more power to the younger generation. At the same time, many countries such as the U.S. point out the lack of democracy, women’s rights and human rights in Saudi Arabia and blame its promotion of Wahhabism, an extremely conservative version of Islam, for creating jihadists. Bipartisan criticism of Saudi Arabia is rising in Congress. Both countries need each other, but they are at a crossroads in bilateral relations. Speaker Molly Hayes worked for the U.S. Department of State from 2008-2014 as an advisor on foreign policy issues in East Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. Hayes served as the State Department’s counterterrorism advisor for East Africa, desk officer for Kenya, Morocco, Western Sahara and Tunisia, and assistant to the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. She was also a deputy coordinator of the State Department’s Egypt Task Force during the 2011 Arab Spring. Hayes holds a BA from the University of Notre Dame in English and Arabic and has lived in Cairo, Egypt, and County Kildare, Ireland.
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