Bilal provides an overview of Saudi Arabia's ambitious defense transformation plan. Relying on his professional experience as a defense analyst and a former official in the Pentagon, he explains the challenges and opportunities of Saudi defense reform from a historical perspective, while ultimately tying the subject to the future of US-Saudi security relations.

Bilal is the Senior Managing Director of TRENDS US in Washington, DC, a consulting firm that focuses on strategic relations between the United States and the Middle East. He is also an Associate Fellow with Chatham House in London and an Adjunct Professor with Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He served as a senior advisor in the US Department of Defense in the first term of the Trump administration, overseeing all US security cooperation activities in the Middle East.