Getting Saudi Arabia back on track

Saudis want the world in 2019 to refocus on economic investment, after unwelcome and distracting publicity

In the early part at least of 2019, Saudi Arabia's most urgent task will be to repair the damage to its international reputation. This was tainted over the past three years by the kingdom's conduct of the war in Yemen and the ensuing civilian suffering, which has left nearly 2mn people on the verge of starvation. But the real damage was caused by the murder in October 2018 of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. International revulsion at the manner and circumstances of the killing—and the kingdom's initial attempts to insist that Khashoggi was still alive—will not evaporate overnight. Despite allegations that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman knew about or even orde