Saudi Arabia’s Monarchy_ the King is Dead _ the Economist
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Saudi Arabia’s monarchy All latest updates The king is dead The Middle East after Abdullah Jan 23rd 2015 | CAIRO | Middle East and Africa IT COULD hardly have come at a more challenging time for Saudi Arabia. On January 23rd Saudi state television announced that the 90yearold ruler King Abdullah had died, nearly a month after being hospitalised for pneumonia. De facto ruler for two decades, Abdullah had nominated his successor, his halfbrother Salman (see picture below), who was quickly elevated to king. King Salman's rule may not be long: he is 79 and, some say, suffering from dementia— though the palace vehemently denies this. Ruling the kingdom is no small job. King Salman has inherited a realm that is the world’s top oil exporter at a time when prices have plunged; is home to Islam’s holiest sites of Mecca and Medina at a time when jihadist violence is at a peak; and has been dragged into turmoil in the region. At home, things are scarcely better: the country of 30m is the only one in which women cannot drive thanks to the struggle between reformists and conservatives. And the public accounts no longer balance without dipping into the country's, admittedly huge, reserves. Few reckon the new monarch will rock the boat. A former governor of Riyadh, he is thought to be similarly minded to Abdullah, albeit a little more conservative, and will be advised by the same people. But challenges abound. Abroad, Saudi has taken a more activist stance of late, and not always with much success. The attempt to build a rebel army to oust President Bashar alAssad of Syria failed; and Saudi Arabia is now involved in a war against the jihadists of Islamic State. Officials
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Saudi Arabia King Dead, MOnarchy is ruined.
Transcript of Saudi Arabia’s Monarchy_ the King is Dead _ the Economist
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SaudiArabiasmonarchyAlllatestupdates
ThekingisdeadTheMiddleEastafterAbdullah
Jan23rd2015|CAIRO| MiddleEastandAfrica
ITCOULDhardlyhavecomeatamore
challengingtimeforSaudiArabia.OnJanuary
23rdSaudistatetelevisionannouncedthatthe
90yearoldrulerKingAbdullahhaddied,nearly
amonthafterbeinghospitalisedforpneumonia.
Defactorulerfortwodecades,Abdullahhad
nominatedhissuccessor,hishalfbrotherSalman
(seepicturebelow),whowasquicklyelevatedto
king.KingSalman'srulemaynotbelong:heis79and,somesay,sufferingfromdementia
thoughthepalacevehementlydeniesthis.
Rulingthekingdomisnosmalljob.KingSalmanhasinheritedarealmthatistheworldstopoil
exporteratatimewhenpriceshaveplungedishometoIslamsholiestsitesofMeccaand
Medinaatatimewhenjihadistviolenceisatapeakandhasbeendraggedintoturmoilinthe
region.Athome,thingsarescarcelybetter:thecountryof30mistheonlyoneinwhichwomen
cannotdrivethankstothestrugglebetweenreformistsandconservatives.Andthepublic
accountsnolongerbalancewithoutdippingintothecountry's,admittedlyhuge,reserves.
Fewreckonthenewmonarchwillrocktheboat.A
formergovernorofRiyadh,heisthoughttobe
similarlymindedtoAbdullah,albeitalittlemore
conservative,andwillbeadvisedbythesame
people.
Butchallengesabound.Abroad,Saudihastaken
amoreactiviststanceoflate,andnotalwayswith
muchsuccess.TheattempttobuildarebelarmytooustPresidentBasharalAssadofSyria
failedandSaudiArabiaisnowinvolvedinawaragainstthejihadistsofIslamicState.Officials
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areparticularlyalarmedbyAmericasattemptstostrikeadealwithIran,withwhichitviesfor
power,overitsnuclearprogramme.Iran,championoftheShiaminority,hasbeenexpanding
itsinfluenceinSyria,IraqandLebanon.Thenewkingwillhaveinstantdecisionstomakeafter
YemensgovernmentfelltoHouthirebels,backedbyIran,overnight.SaudiArabiahadled
attemptsforapeacefultransitioninthecountryafterthetopplingofAliAbdullahSalehin2011.
SaudicitizensareworriedaboutblowbackathomefromYemen,IslamicStateandIran.The
ShiaregimeinTehranhasbeencriticalofSaudiArabiaforguardingitsmarketshareoftheoil
tradebyrefusingtocutproductiontostopthepricefall.Thisisstartingtocauseapinchat
home.InDecemberSaudiArabiasaiditsbudgetdeficitwouldriseto$39billionin2015,almost
5%ofGDP.Thousandsofgraduatesneedwork,andmostseekjobsinthebloatedpublicsector
ratherthaninthefledglingprivateone.Decadesoldtalkofdiversifyingtheeconomyhasrisen
again.
Indeeddomesticallytheobstaclesaregreater.BySaudistandards,Abdullahwasamoderniser,
appointingthefirstfemalegovernmentministerandin2013appointing30womentotheShura
Council.ThesemovesdrewprotestsfromthepuritanicalWahhabiclericsandpartsofthe
devoutpopulation,aswellasreformerswhopointoutthatwomenarestillunabletodriveor
fraternisewithmenwhoarenotrelatives.Freespeechiscurbed.AnumberofSaudisare
pushingforreligiontohavelessofagriponthepublicsphere,theresultsofwhicharestrict
lawsonblasphemyandabanoncinemas.
AftertheArabprotests,AbdullahsentarmouredvehiclestohelpcrushBahrainsuprisingbythe
island'smainlyShiapopulationagainsttheSunnirulingfamily.Hekepthisownpopulation,
especiallytheShiaintheeast,quiescentbyspendingmillionsongovernmentwagesand
housing,andsettingupaFacebookpageforcitizenstoairtheirgrievances.HowlongSaudi
Arabia'sageingrulerscancontinuesuchtacticsisinquestion,andnotjustbecauseofthecost.
OneofAbdullahsgreatlegacieshasbeenfundingscholarshipsthathavesentthousandsof
youngSaudistostudyinWesternuniversitieswhere,someatleast,havepickedupdemocratic
ideals.
ByappointingSalmanashiscrownprince,Abdullahalsoavoidedtheloomingdifficultyof
passingthecrowndownagenerationinasystemwherepowerhasbeenhandeddownbetween
thesonsofAbdelAzizbinSaud,thefounderofthemodernstateofSaudiArabiain1932.On
takingthethroneKingSalmanaffirmedthathiscrownprincewillbetheyoungestbrotherof
thegeneration,Muqrin,a69yearoldformerpilot,intelligencechiefandgovernorofMedina,
whowaslastyearappointeddeputycrownprincebyAbdullah.
Perhapstoavoidthenextgenerationjostlingforpower,Salmanquicklymovedtoappointa
nephew(descendedofthehisownSudairiline)asdeputycrownprince:MuhammadbinNaif,
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theinteriorminister,whohasshownanironfist
whendealingwithterrorism.Todealwiththe
inevitablestruggleforthecrown,Abdullahin
2006setupanallegiancecommitteecomposedof
representativesofeachofthesonsofthefounder.
Unlikethecurrentgeneration,whorecalltheir
Bedouinroots,manyseemanyofthenext
generationasprofligate,flashyandirresponsible,
havinggrownupintimesofgreatwealth.DuringhisruleAbdullahcuttheallowancestothe
thousandsofprincesandprincesses,muchtotheirchagrin.
ForbothSaudisandforeignalliessuchas
America,perhapsthetoughestissuefacingSaudi
ArabiaisthepuritanicalWahhabiformofIslam
thatithasfosteredtheAlSaudsruleinapact
withtheWahhabiclerics.Abdullahremovedthe
mostextremeteachingsinschooltextbooksafter
theSeptember11th2001attacksonAmerica,in
which15ofthe19hijackersturnedouttobe
Saudis.ButrecentlyvoicesnearandfarhavebeenpointingoutthecontradictionbetweenSaudi
joiningthecoalitionagainstIslamicStatewhileimplementingharshpunishmentsathomefor
transgressionsofitsdevoutreligiousstrictures.Themoststrikingexampleisthe1,000lashes
handeddowntoRaifBadawi,aliberalbloggerwhocalledformorefreedomofthought(the
flogginghasbeensuspendedafterthefirst50lashes,onhealthgrounds).Thequestionforthe
outsideworldiswhethertheSaudirulingfamilyispartoftheproblem,orthebestdefence
againsttheextremists.
Clarification:ThisarticlewaschangedtoincludethecommentsoftheSaudipalace.
