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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has over the past years turned into one of the “most dangerous” rulers in the world after gaining clout through pressing ahead with his highly repressive policies, dismissing his political rivals, and butchering his detractors inside and outside of the ultra-conservative kingdom, a report says.
British weekly newspaper The Economist said bin Salman, who became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in 2017, scrambled to change the world’s view of the Arab country by “promoting reform-based policies and opening up the Saudi society” in order to “transform the tradition-bound desert kingdom into a modern oasis.”
The young prince, however, fell from international favor soon over the brutal murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, protraction of the devastating war on impoverished Yemen, and his lack of determination to slash the number of executions in Saudi Arabia despite his abundant political sloganeering.
“In the past, Saudi Arabia was governed according to a strict interpretation of Islam. Clerics controlled everything from social life to the role of women… It was an ultra-conservative establishment; controlled education controlled the public narrative. That was, until the rise of Muhammad bin Salman; the young crown prince stripped the clerics of their power increased women’s rights, including giving them the right to drive and all in a radically short period of time,” the paper said.
Shortly after winning the public favor, the prince sent shock waves across the kingdom and the world by detaining top officials in an alleged corruption probe that was viewed by pundits as a ploy to disqualify his political rivals.
“He rounded up the leading princes and the richest businessmen, interrogated them, got them to reveal their banking details. Thereafter, it was very clear that the real only ruler in the kingdom was now Muhammad bin Salman,” said The Economist. “Since then, his aggression and repressive behavior have escalated. He has consolidated power around his own court.”
Human rights groups estimate thousands have been detained in the kingdom, with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense saying 81 were executed in March this year.
“When all you have is a hammer, everything becomes, or everybody becomes a nail; that’s exactly what MBS is doing and his list of victims will keep expanding inside and outside Saudi Arabia unless somebody decides to put a check on him,” Khalid Aljabri, a Saudi national living in the US, told The Economist.
Moreover, MBS has famously been linked to the murder of Khashoggi, the outspoken former royal-court insider and journalist, who was dismembered with a bone saw in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. MBS has said he takes responsibility for the murder but denies ordering the heinous acts.
However, things have taken a different tack over the past months after the conflict in Ukraine was accompanied by the global energy crisis, which caused the world to show the fervent desire for benefiting from Saudi natural assets.
“Thanks to the global energy crisis, the crown prince looks stronger than ever, and world leaders are queuing up to get their hands on his oil,” The Economist said. “MBS is a very dangerous man who is becoming more dangerous because of the power he’s accumulating.”
The British weekly paper said despite exorbitant cash holdings acquired by Riyadh via the European oil and gas purchases, the crown prince has failed to winnow the kingdom away from oil revenues, stressing that MBS “hasn’t really had much success in diversifying revenues” and the kingdom is still heavily dependent on oil, which attests to the crown prince’s potential downfall.
“Perhaps the greatest threat to the crown prince might be MBS himself. He’s shown himself to be ego-driven, aggressive, and impulsive,” said Nicolas Pelham, the Middle East correspondent for The Economist. “How long can you continue to rule by fear and by force? And at what point could there be a breaking point?”
