Under normal circumstances, it would be a no-brainer to welcome a forward-looking young heir to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s throne to Washington, CNBC says in its commentary piece. Saudi rulers tend to visit the U.S. when they are in their eighties, so it should be refreshing to see a younger face emerge among from one of the world’s richest countries, which is also home to Islam’s most holy places.
But we are not trading in normal circumstances.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman markets himself as a domestic reformer with the ambition to unleash the potential of 32 million Saudi citizens. Given the immense social and political challenges Saudi Arabia faces, one is inclined to give MBS, as he is called, the benefit of the doubt. What if he succeeds in changing the kingdom for the better? Will the prince be the political reformer he claims to be?
But if the past is prologue and his high spending personal behavior any benchmark, he will more likely find himself in the company of bankrupt kleptocrats who harbor apocalyptic ambitions.
Prince Mohammed comes to Washington with the rhetoric of a domestic reformer, but under his arm, he clutches the shopping-list of a war-monger that includes the acquisition of nuclear reactors. He bought huge amounts of arms in Britain and now comes to meet with President Donald Trump, who is likely to sell him dual-use capability nuclear-reactors which will give him an ego-boost as the loyal U.S. ally in the region. The prince, in a charm offensive, will certainly curry favor on both sides of the political aisle, pitching Saudi Arabia as the frontline defense against Iran’s regional ambitions both to his country and to Israel.
Yet, the crown prince has personally overseen the destruction of neighboring Yemen with a civilian death toll of at least 5,000 and counting. And he has no plans to stabilize a poor neighbor whose chronic instability could threaten the security of his own country if this conventional proxy-war waged against the pro-Iran Houthi-led government in Yemen turns into a guerilla war. He also brazenly announced his ambition to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran acquired them.
A disastrous war in Yemen, the attempted isolation of Qatar, and ratcheting up hostility with Iran are strategic policy failures on the prince’s resume. So what kind of thinking and future does this young prince telegraph? Some observers speaking under condition of anonymity accuse Prince Mohammed of extreme narcissism, which clouds his judgment. Actors with such mindsets believe they must destroy the world in order to save it.
The crown prince also lacks moral insight. He strives for no moral greatness which hollows out his claims as a reformer. In the same interview, MBS said his father inculcated in him a deep value of history. His hawkishness will make Saudis and Yemenis feel humiliated. He is sure to be met with resistance from a seething youth sector and a marginalized religious establishment in his country that is far from being defeated. And regional players will hatch plans to resist him, or worse: attempt to dethrone him.
One hopes U.S. policy-makers will ask Prince Mohammed to visit the site of the World Trade Center while he is in New York City. The unprecedented terrorist attacks of 9/11 were not just perpetrated by Saudis; they occurred because the U.S. was seen as enabling the reckless agenda of the royal family with total disregard for the political well-being of Saudis, and that of Muslim peoples in the region and around the world. This perception has not vanished but has in fact metastasized. This means the U.S. still remains in danger emanating from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its homegrown political monsters.
It is time for a sober assessment of whether Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally or a millstone around the U.S.’s neck.
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