
Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented shake-up - pottan
https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21731021-muhammad-bin-salman-has-made-himself-sole-face-saudi-policy-saudi-arabias
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maxxxxx
This reminds me a little of the North Korean purges where they from time kill
some high ranking people just to keep the rest on their toes.

~~~
hammock
Saudi is undergoing regime change, this is not mere "keep you on your toes."
Bin Salman (crown prince and de facto head of state) is purging disloyalists
and apparent obstacles in his quest to globalize Saudi relations (aka distance
from US and closer to China/Russia)

~~~
pkaye
What evidence do yo uhave that they are trying to get closer to China/Russia?
The one rumor I've heard is that the prince got word from US intelligence that
there was chatter about a potential coup.

~~~
hammock
Just google "saudi russia" or "saudi china" and skim the recent news articles.

Russia

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/05/saudi-
russia-v...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/05/saudi-russia-visit-
putin-oil-middle-east)

[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/saudi-
arabia/2017-10...](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/saudi-
arabia/2017-10-10/will-russian-saudi-relations-continue-improve)

China

[https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/11/china-will-compel-saudi-
arab...](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/11/china-will-compel-saudi-arabia-to-
trade-oil-in-yuan--and-thats-going-to-affect-the-us-dollar.html)

[http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/26/china-is-eyeballing-a-
ma...](http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/26/china-is-eyeballing-a-major-
strategic-investment-in-saudi-arabias-oil/)

[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/is-the-us-
losin...](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/is-the-us-losing-saudi-
ar_b_4176729.html)

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maxamillion14
He's trying to silence dissent for the war in Lebanon against Iran, he's
allying with Israel against it , which explains the clerics. He's forcing the
princes like bin Taleb to give up their money (100 billion) for a war chest.
Saudi Arabia is not a warlike country, this is stupid and retarded on so many
levels.

what to do when the khadim goes mad???

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notyourday
The real questions are:

1\. Did the Kingdom receive the message that its "reign" is over and it would
either have to be dragged into a modern post Wahhabi world or end in the stone
ages and so it is abet reluctant decided to start marching into this
direction?

2\. Did the Kingdom decide that it was marching west-ward too much and put
brakes on it.

~~~
nwah1
Those seem like Western-centric questions that may have almost nothing to do
with this. Bin Salman and Talal, for instance, both have strong Western
financial ties.

Simple power consolidation is one obvious alternative explanation. The Qatar
embargo, and overall fear of Iranian ascendancy, is another potential
motivating factor.

