CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 36

SAUDI ARABIA ON THE ROAD TO MODERNIZATION: REALITY OR MYTH?
government. 4 The anti-corruption commission headed by Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman referred more than 60 people for prosecution,
according to a royal court statement. Saudi authorities said they’ve recovered
about $107 billion from people implicated in what the government has
described as a crackdown on graft that has rattled the Kingdom’s business
elite and weighed on economic growth. 5
The de facto leader of Saudi Arabia also swept away many of the
ineffective timeservers in government offices and replaced them with young
Western-educated technocrats. 6 There are now fewer members of the ruling
family in the cabinet than at any time in modern Saudi history. MBS has
cultivated support among the next generation of the royal family, princes
close to his own age who are often from the family’s fourth generation - the
great-grandsons of the founding King. He has appointed them to
governorships and deputy governorships in the provinces and to sub-cabinet
positions in Riyadh. 7
Can Mohammed bin Salman transform one of world’s most retrograde
autocracies from its status as an exporter of oil and terrorist ideology into a
force for global progress? Over the course of three years since his father
became King, bin Salman has ruthlessly consolidated control over the
Kingdom’s economic and security power centers. He has introduced modest
liberalization and sharply escalated a proxy war with Iran across the region,
creating a humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Yemen. “He is an ambitious
young man willing to act aggressively and decisively to consolidate power,”
says Chas Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Riyadh under President
George H.W. Bush. 8
“Moderate” Islam vs. ultra-conservatism
The Saudi Kingdom has long been an absolute monarchy that does not
tolerate public debates. The system was intolerant and harsh against political
4
Vivian Nereim, “Alwaleed promises more details on settlement to calm investors,”
Bloomberg, March 19, 2019, https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/alwaleed-promises-
more-details-on-settlement-to-calm-investors (accessed April 3 2019).
5
Zaid Sabah and Sarah Algethami, “Saudi Arabia Collects $107 Billion as Prince Ends
Crackdown,” Bloomberg, January 30, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-
01-30/saudi-arabia-recovers-107-billion-in-anti-corruption-campaign (accessed March 15,
2019).
6
“Saudi King's son Mohammed bin Salman is new crown prince,” BBC News, June 21, 2017,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40351578 (accessed January 9, 2019).
7
“After the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi: Mohammed bin Salman and the Future of Saudi-U.S.
Relations, Center of Strategies and International Studies,” December 12, 2018,
https://www.csis.org/analysis/after-killing-jamal-khashoggi-muhammad-bin-salman-and-
future-saudi-us-relations accessed (April 5, 2019).
8
Karl Vick, “The Saudi Crown prince Thinks He Can Transform the Middle East. Should We
Believe Him?,” The Time, April 5, 2018, http://time.com/longform/mohammed-bin-salman
(accessed April 2, 2019).
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