At the same time, Saudi Arabia is one of the most authoritarian states on the planet (in 2010, The Economist ranked the kingdom 160th out of 167 in the freedom of political system index; by 2016, the situation has practically not changed). Since the 1930s, the kingdom has been ruled by the Saudi dynasty, and power in the country is almost entirely concentrated in the hands of the royal family. Political parties are banned in the country, and key posts and ministries are distributed among the relatives of the king. The Al-Saud family is quite numerous (there are more than seven thousand of all kinds of princes), so the monarch, as a rule, does not face personnel problems.

The main alternative to royal power can be considered the power of religious institutions. The Koran is officially recognized by the Constitution of Saudi Arabia, the country lives according to Sharia law, therefore, the courts play a significant role, which, among other things, have the right to interpret sacred texts. In practice, the monarch's direct responsibility is considered to be issues of defense, foreign policy, international relations, and religious institutions deal with issues of justice, education and family. In his actions, the monarch is also limited by the decisions of the leaders of the tribes and representatives of the richest families. In addition, there is opposition from the Islamists and the Shiite minority.

Another important factor is relations with the West, the main consumer of Saudi oil. Saudi Arabia's interest in good relations with the West has repeatedly led to internal contradictions and international scandals. For example, Saudi Arabia is a US ally, but military base that was there, the Americans in 2003 moved to Qatar - including because of the opposition of influential families: they did not want troops of "infidels" to be stationed in Saudi Arabia. The presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia was one of the reasons for the attacks on September 11, 2001 (and in 2016 it turned out that some officials of the Saudi government could be involved in the attacks).

Muhammad bin Salman and US President Donald Trump at the White House. March 14, 2017 Shealah Craighead / The White House

For 85 years of Saudi Arabia's existence, the kingdom was ruled by only two generations of monarchs: the brothers and sons of the first king, Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdurrahman. Under each of them, the complex balance of power within the kingdom was slightly modified - depending on the reforms that they undertook to carry out. At the same time, attempts at economic modernization have invariably rested on the reluctance (or inability) of the monarchs to expand the participation of the population in political life.

Salman ibn Abdul-Aziz Al Saud - the seventh king of Saudi Arabia - ascended the throne in 2015. The kingdom's usual problems (dependence on oil exports, an overgrown state apparatus) by this time reached a new level: the fall in oil prices, which provided (and ensures) the functioning of almost all spheres of the kingdom's life, put the population, accustomed to living on the income from oil rent, in front of the need to earn money in the private sector. Reform of the public sector, which provides 70% of jobs in the country, has made the situation even more acute.

This reform, launched by Salman immediately after coming to power, involved the abolition of 11 government secretariats and the creation of two in their place: the Council for Political and Security Affairs and the Council for Economic and Development Affairs. The first was headed by the king's nephew, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Naif. The second is Salman's own son, head of the royal court and vice-crown prince Muhammad bin Salman. Thus, the king concentrated the main functions of government in the hands of his nephew and son. At the same time, the reform mandate was given to the young - who did not reach his 30th birthday at that time - Muhammad bin Salman: as the Arab media wrote at the beginning of 2015, Muhammad bin Naif, appointed crown prince, received a higher position and successor status, but Muhammad bin Salman was given the right to carry out broad reforms, including a complete reform of the government.

As far as can be judged, the decision to appoint Muhammad bin Salman as crown prince (and the dismissal of Muhammad bin Naif from all positions held) does not indicate a struggle between the nephew and the king's son - they belong to the same family, share similar views on the international role of the kingdom, both value and respected in the West. But from the point of view of rejuvenation and modernization, the 31-year-old son looks like a more promising figure than the 57-year-old nephew - especially in the eyes of the monarch, who is now 81. It is more than likely that for Salman, the son is more suited to the role of the first representative of the third generation of Saudi kings.

Muhammad bin Salman, who four years ago presented himself to journalists as a "simple lawyer", did recent times meteoric career. As head of the Council for Economic Affairs, he also received the post of Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia and is considered to be in charge of the beginning. On the economic front, the young heir was also very active. Muhammad beat Salman fired many aging officials, replacing them with young ones (and educated in the West). With their help, he developed "Vision 2030", which envisages the complete deliverance of the economy of Saudi Arabia from oil dependence. The plan includes the partial privatization of oil producer Aramco and the creation of a $ 2 trillion sovereign investment fund with the proceeds.

The key quality of the new heir is his willingness to go into conflict with representatives of the previous generation. In particular, certain hopes are pinned on him, connected with limiting the influence of conservative religious circles and ensuring the liberalization of the kingdom's political life - something that no Saudi reformer king has yet been able to fully achieve.

In late May, Ibn Salman visited Moscow, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Prince Muhammad ibn Salman, who has great connections and no doubt plans to succeed his father, believes that 99% of the cards in the Middle East are held by the United States. Others, including Russia and China, are secondary players, while Europe, in turn, is only an American suburb.

However, after the conference in Riyadh and after Donald Trump and his family were treated kindly, and the US delegation returned loaded with bank checks, money and precious gifts, Prince Ibn Salman, dreaming of dominating the Middle East, was extremely surprised when he found the picture was not turning out as expected. Trump, who intimidated everyone in the beginning, reneged on all his promises and, sources said, told Ibn Salman that the game Saudi Arabia seeks to play is not so simple, and there must be other forces in the world with the same opinion. In addition, these countries have their own conditions, guarantees and financial requirements. Here Ibn Salman guessed that he needed to hold dozens of summits in order to please everyone.

Context

Difficult dialogue between oil giants

An Nahar 06/01/2017

How will Syria form an alliance with the US and Saudi Arabia?

Al Ahram 05/31/2017

Trump redefines Middle East policy

Voice of America Russian Service 05/17/2017

Secrets of Trump's visit to Riyadh

El Fagr 05/16/2017 He immediately heads to Moscow to see Vladimir Putin, the second and most dangerous player in the game, trying to win the Russians over to his side in forming a coalition in which Saudi Arabia will take the lead. Of course, the politically skilful president of Russia cannot allow his power to turn into a toy bought by Saudi Arabia for a lot of money. According to leaked rumors, he offered to cancel a major deal that Saudi Arabia made with Turkey and related to the purchase of warships and aircraft carriers, one of the conditions of which for Ankara was to support recent actions Saudi Arabia in the region. Saudi Arabia thus lost an ally in the person of Erdogan.

According to information leaks from the Kremlin, all of Ibn Salman's negotiations have failed. The media reported that the Russian president had set impossible conditions that the prince was unable to fulfill. After Saudi Arabia explicitly announced the cancellation of the largest deal with Turkey, Putin demanded that Assad's position in Syria be preserved, which Ibn Salman found an obstacle to his own ambitions to limit Iran's influence in the region.

The Russian ambassador to Riyadh also added fuel to the fire, describing Saudi Arabia's actions as "suicide." According to him, for the Saudis, the global and even regional scene is in many ways much more complicated than it seems, and there is a possibility that the regime in Syria will remain, despite the fact that the country has been in a precarious political and strategic position for many decades ...

The situation became even more disastrous when those in charge of Riyadh asked the question: can Donald Trump defend himself in order to protect you?

After all these attempts to push Russia towards cooperation, she announced that she supports the principle of dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the discussion of issues that lead to the emergence of all these conflicts. Ibn Salman was struck like a thunderbolt and was the first evidence of the failure of the summit, held with the participation of Trump. The President of the United States ignored the promises because today he is preoccupied with improving relations with the West, which he also fails to correct.

The materials of Inosmi contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editorial staff of Inosmi.

What the future is preparing for the Arabian kingdom by the young heir

Mohammed bin Salman was declared heir to the throne (and, therefore, the future king) of Saudi Arabia only five months ago. And during this time, the 31-year-old son of the ruling king Salman bin Abdulaziz has already managed to loudly declare himself - both within the kingdom and beyond. His father will turn 82 on December 31, and therefore experts do not exclude that Muhammad bin Salman will take the throne in the very near future. What are the consequences of the planned - and partially already carried out - transformations? How can the US relations with Saudi Arabia, the traditional American ally in the Middle East, change? About this and many other things, "MK" told an orientalist, author of the book "Saudi Arabia. XXI century in the homeland of Islam "Konstantin DUDAREV.

Fight against corruption or - for power?

Mohammed bin Salman is called by some a "dark horse", but he has enough political experience. Eight years ago, he took the post of special adviser to the king - his father, and already in 2012 he became deputy minister of defense. Since January 2015, he has headed the Royal Court and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense.

It is generally accepted that it was Muhammad bin Salman (or as he is sometimes called in the press, MBS) who was behind the kingdom's active interference in the affairs of other states. So, under him, Saudi Arabia began a fight against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who, according to Riyadh, are supported by the longtime enemy of the Saudis, Iran.

And several lawsuits have already been submitted to the court. They are still silent about them, but this is a time bomb. Even after the decision of Congress in 2016, the Saudis declared their readiness to withdraw from the United States their assets exceeding $ 750 billion if lawsuits are opened. Riyadh also threatened to demand the repayment of the debt - more than one hundred billion dollars. These are very serious threats, and they can frustrate all the agreements reached. Although, of course, Saudi Arabia is extremely interested in American investments in the form of the latest technologies- to implement the planned economic reforms ”.

From the moment when his father ascended the throne, the affairs of Prince Mohammed bin Salman rapidly went uphill - and now he was one step away from the throne.
He has more and more power. All his competitors faded into the background.
Here's what you need to know about the heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia.

Concentrated power in his own branch of the ruling family
The newly appointed prince was close to his father Salman even before he became king.
In 2009, Prince Mohammed became a special advisor to his father, who was then governor of Riyadh.
However, the rise of Prince Mohammed is unique to a kingdom not accustomed to such rapid political ups.
Great leap into it political career happened in April 2015, when the new Saudi monarch removed the elderly heir to the throne and appointed a younger prince in his place.
Instead of the king's half-brother, Mukrin ibn Abdul-Aziz, the nephew of the monarch, Mohammed bin Naif, was appointed crown prince.
And his deputy - and, accordingly, the heir of the second order - was appointed the son of Salman. Now he, Mohammed bin Salman, has replaced bin Naif in this position.
The new heir to the throne has also been appointed deputy prime minister and continues to serve as defense minister.

US President Donald Trump meets with Prince Mohammed at the White House
Pays great attention to defense
When Salman bin Abdulaziz became king in January 2015, he did not hesitate to strengthen his son's position in the ruling elite of the country.
At 29, Muhammad became the country's youngest defense minister.
Just two months later, Saudi Arabia has assembled a coalition and launched a military campaign in Yemen.

However, to date, the coalition has not achieved its goal of helping exiled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi to return the country's capital Sana from the control of the Houthi rebels.
Wants to rid Saudi Arabia's economy of oil dependence
In April 2016, the influential prince, who is also the head of the Council for Economic Affairs and Development, presented an ambitious vision for economic reforms aimed at ending the kingdom's dependence on oil revenues.
According to him, the implementation of this plan - "Vision-2030" - will allow the country "to live without oil" by 2020.
Coming to the forefront, the young prince began to position himself as a vivid role model for the people of Saudi Arabia.
The International Monetary Fund called Vision 2030 "an ambitious, far-reaching goal," but cautioned that it would be difficult to achieve.
Saudi Prince Mohammed Ibn Salman Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
Image caption
In April 2015, King Salman appointed his son Crown Prince
Doesn't want to change relations with Iran
Last month, Prince Mohammed ruled out the possibility of any dialogue between Saudi Arabia and its rival Iran.

These countries are indirectly involved from opposite sides in two conflicts - in Syria and in Yemen.
Relations between Riyadh and Tehran have deteriorated further after Saudi authorities executed prominent Shiite preacher Nimr al-Nimr.
The rise of Mohammad bin Salman was regarded by the Iranian media as a "soft coup."
Iranian military accuses Saudi Arabia of attacks in Tehran

Family man
Mohammed bin Salman was born on August 31, 1985, the eldest son of Salman's third wife, Fahda bint Fala.
Unlike most Saudi princes, he completed his education in Saudi Arabia.
He studied law at King Saud University and later worked in several government positions.
He has only one wife, from her he has two sons and two daughters.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman is considered almost all over the world as a reformer and freedom fighter. He empowered women where they were most disadvantaged. However, he treated his mother cruelly.

Not surprisingly, Trump and Kushner see him as a good partner. Mohammed bin Salman wants to defeat Iran's allies. This will allow Israel to continue to flourish.

On March 15, 2018, the Crown Prince announced the creation of nuclear weapons if it appears in Iran.

The prince's belligerence is not the worst thing.
Most dangerous of all, the prince wants to weaken traditional values ​​in order to push his people towards the progress, temptations and problems of European man.

It is possible that they want to make the Saudis the slaves of capitalism. Accordingly, slaves do not participate in political discussions. (in accordance with paragraph 3)

All this well-intentioned masquerade with rights for women, outlandish citizenship for robots, blockchain and other innovations could one day make people more manageable and submissive. They will already live in the new digital world, which Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev told us about with enthusiasm.