Five years after killing a journalist in cold blood, Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever | Mohamad Bazzi

After the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the US vowed to hold Saudi Arabia accountable. Biden has done the opposite

Five years ago, Jamal Khashoggi walked into Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul to pick up a document he needed in order to marry his Turkish fiancee. The journalist never walked out. Inside the consulate, he was ambushed by a 15-member Saudi hit team, who suffocated him and dismembered his body with a bone saw. The death squad then slipped out of Turkey on two charter planes owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

Since then, Mohammed bin Salman - Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de facto ruler, who, according to US intelligence officials, approved Khashoggi's assassination - has managed a near complete rehabilitation of his increasingly autocratic regime. Prince Mohammed has met with Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders; he's positioning Saudi Arabia as a global tourism destination; and he's plowing ahead with plans to build Neom, his $500bn futuristic city in the desert. The prince has spent more than $6bn on investments in football teams, golf tournaments and other sports deals. He's pouring billions more into Silicon Valley tech companies - all part of an effort to whitewash the kingdom's abysmal human rights record.