Crown Prince Performs Shock Therapy on Saudi Arabia
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/02/28/crown_prince_performs_shock_therapy_on_saudi_arabia_136384.htmlFebruary 28, 2018
..."MBS," as the headstrong 32-year-old crown prince is known, began the conversation just before midnight Monday, at the end of a day that had brought new royal decrees shaking up the Saudi military and government bureaucracy and appointing a woman to a Cabinet ministry, Dr. Tamadur bint Youssef al-Ramah as deputy minister for labor. For more than two hours, he discussed his campaigns against corruption and Muslim extremism, as well as his strategy for the region.
The crown prince said he has public support, not just from restless younger Saudis but from a chastened royal family. He rejected criticism of his domestic and regional policies, which some have described as risky, and argued that the changes are essential to finance the kingdom's development and combat its enemies, such as Iran. Asked whether he might release human-rights activists before his visit to the U.S. in late March, he said Saudi standards were different than American ones, and "if it works, don't fix it," but he added later through an aide that he would consider reforms in this area, as in others.
During my brief visit to the kingdom, it was impossible to assess how well MBS' reforms are working. Certainly, there's a cultural ferment: Women tell visitors what kind of cars they plan to buy when they're allowed to drive in June; new gyms for women are opening; women entrepreneurs are operating food trucks; and women sports fans are attending public soccer games.
Conservative dissent may exist underground, but a September 2017 independent poll by IPSOS of Saudi millennials found that 74 percent were optimistic about the future; topping their worries were high prices, unemployment and corruption....
