In
the six weeks before Khashoggi’s disappearance, MBS not only
managed to anger the U.S. military-industrial complex but the world’s
most powerful bankers.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
5 - The search begins for a new prince who will play along
As a
consequence of the Khashoggi incident, there have been several
reports from prominent publications claiming that efforts are now
underway to replace MBS as crown prince.
One such
report in France’s Le Figaro has stated that MBS is set to be
“gradually” replaced by his even younger brother Khalid bin
Salman, who has most recently served as the Saudi Ambassador to
Washington. This choice is significant, as it shows that the
powers-that-be are seeking to replace MBS with another McKinsey-bent
“young Arab princeling” instead of the former Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef or another elder of the House of Saud who would
oppose the privatization that MBS had promised but failed to deliver.
In a
Washington Post op-ed, Khalid bin Salman’s support for the
neoliberal Vision 2030 plan is clear, as he called it “a
comprehensive plan for economic diversification as well as social and
cultural reform” and echoed his older brother in stating that
“our old course was not sustainable.”
Beyond
his stated views in support of current Saudi policy, including the
genocidal war the Saudis are waging in Yemen, not much else is known
about Khalid, who has little political experience given his young age
and his time spent as a fighter pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force.
Yet, in his capacity as Saudi ambassador, Khalid bin Salman has met
with powerful Congressmen from both parties, as well as Lockheed
Martin executives, cultivating personal ties in the process.
However,
the Khashoggi incident has brought new scrutiny to Khalid bin Salman,
given that he had personally met Khashoggi in the Saudi Embassy in
Washington in early 2018, around the same time that Khashoggi was
creating Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), his new “democracy
promotion” group targeting the kingdom. According to friends of
Khashoggi who spoke to NBC News, the meeting was casual and friendly
and lasted about 30 minutes. The topics of the discussion of the
meeting are still unknown.
Will MBS
be replaced? It certainly remains to be seen, as strong public
pressure and political threats may yet guide the crown prince back to
the neoliberal fold. Yet, what is clear is that MBS’ rise to
power was backed by the international elite and the Trump
administration based on the promise of these neoliberal reforms and
the mass sale of U.S. weapons to Saudi Arabia. However, in the months
before Khashoggi’s disappearance, MBS gravely endangered both of
these deals, angering those that had backed his consolidation of
power. Such a cadre of powerful interests will not prove easy to
placate.
While it
may certainly seem ironic and perhaps amusing to some that a tyrant
like MBS has come under such strong pressure from the international
elite, there is reason for concern. Indeed, if Vision 2030 is
fully implemented — whether by MBS or his successor — forcing
neoliberalism on the Saudi population is likely to make the country
very unstable, as nearly occurred when MBS tried to implement it
early this year.
The
intense pressure from global power players may cause MBS to value his
staying in power above all else, potentially prompting him to enact
domestically unpopular economic “reforms” despite the outcry that
will inevitably result. If MBS’ past decisions are any indication,
he would use force to crush any outcry. If this takes place, we can
expect many more to suffer a fate similar to Khashoggi’s, as Saudi
Arabia would become an even more inhospitable place for dissidents.
***
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