Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman isn't waiting for his
turn at the throne to take his country
in a radically different direction.
The 32 year old prince is distancing
himself from hardline Islam
progressing women's rights
and looking past oil for income.
But not since the reign of the country's founder
has this much power been in one man's
hands.
Here's a man who identifies
himself as the leader of this country.
Even though his father still remains king
this is the story of a Saudi millennial
whose progressive yet autocratic tendencies
are sending shock waves through the entire
region.
Mohammad bin Salman also known as
MBS hasn't always been in
line for the Saudi throne.
For decades the throne has been passed
from elderly brother to a slightly less
elderly brother.
All sons of the founder of Saudi Arabia.
But MBS is set to buck
that trend.
His relationship
with his father has put him in a position
that has allowed him to leapfrog
other members of his immediate
family because of the trust of his father
seemingly has in him
that close bond was years in the
making.
Unlike his brothers the prince was educated
in Saudi Arabia.
He was by his father's side
through most of most of his childhood
and so he understands how
the royal family works.
From an insider's playbook
a few years after graduating from King
Saud University the prince went to
work for his father then the governor
of Riyadh in 2011.
His father was named defense minister.
But MBS was initially barred from entering
the ministry because of rumors that he was
disruptive and power hungry.
Gradually the prince worked his way back
into the then kings good graces
and he was assigned to Ministry of Defence
where he brought in western consulting firms
to streamline bureaucratic inefficiencies.
In 2015 his father became
king and gave his favorite son unprecedented
control over the majority of government.
The Prince became known as Mr.
Everything.
Finally in the summer of 2017
the king named him crown prince
the first in line bypassing his
uncle one of many older
and more experienced statesmen.
He would describe himself as
the first Saudi
leader of this stature
raised in the Internet
age
and as someone who grew
up playing video games.
Peter Waldman writes about the Middle East
interviewed the prince for Businessweek
he compares himself to the
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
and says I'm going to take my state
in a kind of visionary
direction.
In 2016 the prince launched
Vision 2030 his plan
to transform Saudi Arabia by
weaning the nation off of oil
and liberalizing society.
He's lifted the prohibition on women
driving. He's introduced public
entertainment such as concerts
and he's allowed cinemas to
open.
The prince also plans to fulfill what
he calls different dreams
for a post carbon future
a major piece of that plan is to sell
shares in a state owned oil company
Saudi Aramco which could create
the biggest IPO in history.
The reaction to the Aramco IPO
has been one
of them
and I think a bit of shock depending on where you're
looking at it.
For years the kingdom has relied on petroleum
for 90 percent of the state budget.
Almost all of its export earnings
and more than half of its gross domestic
product.
They brought in huge oil revenues
and spent it for their own
survival as a royal
family in terms of subsidising
lifestyles among Saudis
so they wouldn't push back
against this very autocratic
family.
The collapse of oil prices from one hundred forty
dollars a barrel to the 30s in 2016
caused the IMF to declare that the country
would be bankrupt by 2020 if
it carried on spending as much as it does.
What this 32 year old prince
has said very clearly is
we can no longer rely on oil
to fund our lifestyles.
We have to begin to contribute
on a personal level to work
to be entrepreneurial to find
investments to find businesses
like a normal state.
The crown prince introduced taxes
slashed handouts
and is trying to make Saudis actually
pay for the energy they consume.
The prince also heads an anti-corruption
commission and in the fall of 2017
he carried out an unprecedented purge
of the Saudi elite arresting
four ministers 11 princes
and countless businessmen.
Most were freed after returning what were
alleged to be ill gotten gains
by taking on his cousins in
the royal family.
He's sending a signal that
he is dead serious about
changing the Saudi system.
However it has not apply to himself
thus far
and I think his own personal
excesses undermine
the signal he's trying to send.
While his approach may seem unforgiving
Mbius is shaping the Middle East
in ways no one could really have ever
imagined
and being so young he's likely to
hold power for over a half century
meaning there will be continuity of government
but without the checks
and balances needed to prevent a dictatorship.
Saudi Arabia is a police state
from top to bottom
and it will continue to be for
the foreseeable future.