The Preamble

The Preamble

Now Accepting Bids: US Foreign Policy

Elise Labott's avatar
Elise Labott
May 20, 2025
∙ Paid

When President Obama visited Saudi Arabia in 2009, his adviser Ben Rhodes received an unexpected gift when he got to his hotel room. "When I opened the door to my unit, I found a large suitcase, and inside were jewels," Rhodes later wrote, adding that all of the officials in the delegation got the same. Diplomatic protocol required returning such lavish…

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Elise Labott's avatar
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Elise Labott
Global affairs journalist. I write Cosmopolitics on Substack.
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