How Could JASTA Change U.S. Foreign Policy?

The Senate approved a bill this week that would allow families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the Saudi Arabian government for its alleged involvement. How could this impact the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and broader U.S. foreign policy?

In my newest piece for Pacific Standard, I look at how the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act makes the already complicated U.S.-Saudi relationship even more convoluted, and how it could impact broader U.S. foreign policy.

Just by being approved by the Senate, the bill underscores how U.S.-Saudi relations have changed, and how that evolving relationship presents Washington with a real political liability. Even if the bill dies and is revived again at a later date, the Saudi government will still view it as an unnecessary risk and a point of contention in its relationship with the U.S. moving forward.

Read more here.

(Photo: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

Leave a comment