Former Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal once compared the bond with the US to a “Muslim marriage,” or one that wasn’t necessarily monogamous. The kingdom’s recent overtures to other partners suggest the relationship is going through another reappraisal because of the landmark accord with regional rival Iran. After visiting Russia and France in June, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman returned home with $23 billion of aircraft and energy contracts.

… “Financial muscle gets you only so far,” says James Dorsey, a senior fellow in international studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “I doubt it will fundamentally sway Washington. Saudi leadership realises that irrespective of its views of US reliability and policies, there is no country that can substitute it.”