Fortunate son
The king of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday changed his successor. King Salman, 81, named his son, Mohammed bin Salman, 31, previously minister of defense, as crown prince and deputy prime minister. The son replaced the king’s nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, 57, who had been deputy prime minister and minister of the interior as well as crown prince.
No reason was given. It could have been health, or some scandal, just plain nepotism or a result of intra-family maneuvering. Saud family rule requires no explanation to be given for such moves. There is no indication that the change comes in any way as a result of the visit of President Donald Trump to the kingdom last month.
There are nonetheless U.S. policy implications.
Trump announced important sales during his visit there. The complicating factor in those sales is that it ties America to any Saudi war-making that its rulers determine to undertake.
One particularly disastrous example of this is the war Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf client states have been waging in bordering Yemen for two years now. That conflict is in effect a proxy war between Sunni Islamic Saudi Arabia and Shiite Islamic Iran for pre-eminence in the region. One major problem with the Yemen war is that it has reduced that country, with a population of 27 million, to ruin, including hunger and disease, most recently cholera.
The latest quarrel the Saudis have picked is with Qatar over its sometimes independent policy positions. That conflict is complicated greatly for the United States by the fact of a large American military presence in the emirate as well as American educational institutions and many businesses.
The new crown prince, as minister of defense, was known as a strong advocate of a more aggressive Saudi role in the Middle East’s many wars. It will be interesting to see what changes he will make in his new role. Unfortunately for the United States, policy changes that will involve America will not be made with reference to even a glance at Saudi popular support, not to mention best interests determined in any democratic fashion. If the past is any indication, U.S. support of Saudi undertakings will be assumed and received.