Rokirovka in Saudi

The king of Saudi Arabia made his son a second person in the country, who is called a "dangerous player"

In the Saudi vertical vertical of generations, a change of generations occurred: on June 21, the 81-year-old King of Saudi Arabia Salman announced that his 31-year-old son Muhammad Ben Salman As-Saud would now be the first on the list of successors.

The previous Kronprint, the king’s nephew, 57-year-old Muhammad Ben Nayf is deprived of the title and dismissed from the post of Minister of the Interior. The decision of the king was supported by 31 of 34 members of the Oevusye Council, which includes the elders of the Saudis dynasty.

When two years ago, on January 23, 2015, Salman Ibn Abdul-Aziz Ibn Abdurrahman al-Saud, after the death of his brother, Abdullah became the king of Saudi Arabia, few people knew about Muhammad Ben Salman-the brother of King Muhammad Ben Nyef was immediately appointed, and the king’s son was deputy crown prince.

The 57-year-old, now the former Crown Prince studied in the United States, in 1985-1988 attended the FBI courses for security, and in 1992-1994 was trained in the anti-terrorist parts of Scotland Yard. It is not surprising that later, in 2003-2006, he headed the Saudi part of the anti-terrorist operation against al-Qaeda*, thereby earned the respect and even admiration of Washington. Today's change of generations in Saudi Arabia - albeit so far at the level of Cronprinters - makes experts think: who actually can be at the helm of the largest player in the Middle East?

The ruler of the post -lane era

Over the past two years, Muhammad Ben Salman gained political weight in the country. A graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of King Saud in Riyadh, the prince worked for several years in the private sector, and then led his father’s courtyard-then still Cronprint. Since 2015, he has already been controlled by the military sphere (he was considered the youngest minister of defense in the world), oil and economics. From today, he retains the post of Minister of Defense and becomes the deputy prime minister.

According to the Reuters agency, for the Saudis themselves the appointment of Muhammad Ben Salman Kronprint was no surprise: “His photographs have long been hung with walls, cars and advertising shields throughout the country. This was evidenced by the number of powers that he managed to take on. "

Kronprints often expressed his vision of the future of the country: he advocated the gradual changes in the social sphere and the reduction of the powers of the religious police. At the same time, the prince draws the attention of The Financial Times, tried to win the favorable attitude of the young generation, trying to create conditions for such entertainment as musical concerts. For a conservative Arab country, these shifts are almost tectonic.

The last year, it seems, the PR service of Ben Salman actively worked not only within the country, but also abroad: the prince tried to appear more often in the Western media.

“His photographs have long been hung with walls, cars and advertising shields throughout the country. This was evidenced by the number of powers that he managed to take on "

In an interview with Muhammad Ben Salman (in the West, he is often called the first three letters - MBS) has repeatedly stated that he intends to remove the country from the oil needle through a significant diversification of the economy. According to some reports, associates who have received education in the West and have experience in large international organizations, such as the World Bank, help him in this.

The bold idea to transform the largest economic system in the Arab world, the prince has no time. Saudi Arabia, writes The Financial Times, is still trying to suspend the fall in oil prices without much success, which forced the government to take both the cost of expenses and take steps to develop other (non -oil) sectors of the economy.

Crown Prince has already launched a comprehensive strategy for the preparation of Saudi Arabia for the fasting era, which was called the Vision-2030. It provides for a reduction in the role of the state, strengthening the private sector and creating jobs for youth. The strategy also stipulates the creation of the world's largest welfare state fund and the IPO Saudi Aramco. This oil company is considered the world's largest oil production and the size of oil reserves, as well as, according to the newspaper The Financial Times, in the cost of business ($ 781 billion). By the way, Prince Mohammed became the first member of the royal family to head the board of directors of this company and, thus, directly controlling the state oil company.

Crown Prince has already launched a comprehensive strategy for the preparation of Saudi Arabia for the observation era, which was called the Vision-2030 (“Wrap-2030”). It provides for a reduction in the role of the state, strengthening the private sector and creating jobs for youth

Dangerous player

But with all the advancedness of the economic bloc, the newly -made Kronrintz was often criticized for unpredictable behavior in relation to neighbors. About a year after his father became king, the Federal Intelligence Service of Germany (BND) issued a alarming report. The service warned that Saudi Arabia adopted the “impulsive impulsion policy”. In this report, then the deputy Crown Prince was depicted as a naive and gambling political player. At the insistence of the German Foreign Ministry, BND was forced to withdraw this document, however, the concern of German intelligence officers, writes the British newspaper Independent, turned out to be not -willed.

It is Prince Muhammad, being the Minister of Defense, who is responsible for the beginning of the war in Yemen against the Right Rustaries - the Husites. This conflict, according to some calculations, put about 17 million people on the brink of survival. He also activated the role of Saudi Arabia in Syria, thereby accelerating the Russian military interference in the region.

The Bloomberg agency calls Muhammad Ben Salman a key figure in the current confrontation of Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Middle East with Qatar

In addition, Bloomberg writes that it is Muhammad Ben Salman that can be called a key figure in the current confrontation between Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Middle East with Qatar.

Given all these actions of the Saudi prince, the Independent newspaper in May of this year came to the conclusion: Muhammad Ben Salman is one of the two most dangerous people on the planet. (The second “source of instability” was called Donald Trump). Over the past two years of his actual rule, writes the publication, the prince has already managed to win a reputation of an impulsive, aggressive and short -sighted policy: “Fold his miscalculations with Trump’s miscalculations, which does not think about the consequences of his actions in the same way, and you will receive an explosive mixture that threatens the most inconsistent region on the planet.”

* "Al-Qaeda"-an organization banned in the Russian Federation as a terrorist.