By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN in nytimes
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — I never thought I’d live long enough to write this sentence: The most significant reform process underway anywhere in the Middle East today is in Saudi Arabia. Yes, you read that right. Though I came here at the start of Saudi winter, I found the country going through its own Arab Spring, Saudi style.
Unlike the other Arab Springs — all of which emerged bottom up and failed miserably, except in Tunisia — this one is led from the top down by the country’s 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and, if it succeeds, it will not only change the character of Saudi Arabia but the tone and tenor of Islam across the globe. Only a fool would predict its success — but only a fool would not root for it.
To better understand it I flew to Riyadh to interview the crown prince, known as “M.B.S.,” who had not spoken about the extraordinary events here of early November, when his government arrested scores of Saudi princes and businessmen on charges of corruption and threw them into a makeshift gilded jail — the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton — until they agreed to surrender their ill-gotten gains. You don’t see that every day.
The stakes are high for M.B.S. in this anticorruption drive. If the public feels that he is truly purging corruption that was sapping the system and doing so in a way that is transparent and makes clear to future Saudi and foreign investors that the rule of law will prevail, it will really instill a lot of new confidence in the system. But if the process ends up feeling arbitrary, bullying and opaque, aimed more at aggregating power for power’s sake and unchecked by any rule of law, it will end up instilling fear that will unnerve Saudi and foreign investors in ways the country can’t afford.
But one thing I know for sure: Not a single Saudi I spoke to here over three days expressed anything other than effusive support for this anticorruption drive. The Saudi silent majority is clearly fed up with the injustice of so many princes and billionaires ripping off their country. While foreigners, like me, were inquiring about the legal framework for this operation, the mood among Saudis I spoke with was: “Just turn them all upside down, shake the money out of their pockets and don’t stop shaking them until it’s all out!”
Full story and image source credit: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/opinion/saudi-prince-mbs-arab-spring.html?action=click&contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
Fingers crossed. Sometimes, albeit rarely, a philosopher king emerges. If the Prince is for real, he has a dangerous challenge.
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I honestly think that this very far from an Arab spring but more to a money and power take over. He arrested all the wealthy princes and generals, hired blackwater soldiers to torture many people, and also looked as a loser when Lebanese prime minister announced that he will stay in his position for the moment.
Google how much he brought his yacht using the gouvernement money from a Russian billionaire
I am interested in learning a lot more from you. Thank you for commenting and resteeming my post today.
Success is our birthright. You caught me with that. I like to play with coincidence and numbers too. You supported my post about a school in Bangladesh and I am your number 478 follower. The number of the bus I caught to school as a kid.
I'm not delusional. I just like to loosen the grip on what is.
Sometimes it allows us to see what might be.
Your belief in people is admirable. I refuse to stop believing in people and possibilities.
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