By Daniel DePetris
You may remember Mohammed bin Salman as the brash and oftentimes delusional Saudi crown prince who is just as passionate about diversifying his country’s oil-dependent economy as he is about eliminating his opponents.
Seven years ago, MBS was but one of thousands of princes living a pampered but boring life. It turned out that MBS was anything but an ordinary Saudi royal; spending years attached to his father, King Salman, MBS learned how power is wielded inside the kingdom. He was his father’s enforcer, a skill he put to good use in later years as he sidelined his more powerful cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, as crown prince and heir to the throne. He also successfully shook down richer members of the royal family.
MBS still possesses a gleaming self-confidence, but he’s no longer as unabashedly self-assured as before. The man who sat down for a two-hour interview with Saudi state TV this week sounded a lot different than the man who charmed celebrities in Hollywood, courted politicians in Washington, D.C., and solicited investments from Silicon Valley a few years ago. While it would be foolish to overstate the case, it’s hard not to believe that the Biden administration’s policy toward Saudi Arabia doesn’t have something to do with the evolution.
This piece was originally published in Washington Examiner on April 29, 2021. Read more HERE.