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saraib28's review against another edition
1.0
How much longer is the Arabian Gulf going to endure unsolicited opinions suggesting a transition to a democratic government?
Opinions that are lacking a constructivist understanding of the region, its history and tribalistic culture. Why is it that white washed ideologies are imposed on us with an ethnocentric hint? The failure to understand the difference between the middle eastern culture and the western culture will forever result in a blurred hasty judgment.
My main issue with this book Is that the author doesn’t even attempt to be objective to gain some credibility. I had hoped it would be more factual and less of an op-ed draft.
The author talks about the Saudi-led coalition in one of his chapters and claims Iran had supported the Houthis only after Saudi joined. He states “they welcomed Iranian help to fight back” (mans sources: “trust me i know”) leaving aside the fact that iran has been present in yemen way before that, as it has been present in different areas of the gulf as well as Africa. His inability and failure to mention this shows his poor understanding of the situation; which i doubt, this is more of a selective perception bias.
The security threat that the expansionist Iran poses on the region is not to be taken lightly.
Same goes to how the author minimizes the gulf crisis to a simple hacking fight. Leaving aside the history of the conflict, the way Qatar weaponizes its media platform against its neighboring countries, funds several projects that attempt to defame them, and its actual involvement in the proxy war in yemen is yet another incident of his selective perception bias.
The author spends 3-4 chapters on MBS’s Rise to Power, while saves the rest of the book for his “Human Rights” agenda serving the liberal prejudice and reaffirming his superiority complex pov.
The author also mentions in the beginning of the book Khashoggi’s islamist views, his muslim brotherhood loyalty & his friendship with Osama bin Laden. Excluding the pathos and emotional appeal enforced in the book, what if he was actually posing a threat to the nation state?
Opinions that are lacking a constructivist understanding of the region, its history and tribalistic culture. Why is it that white washed ideologies are imposed on us with an ethnocentric hint? The failure to understand the difference between the middle eastern culture and the western culture will forever result in a blurred hasty judgment.
My main issue with this book Is that the author doesn’t even attempt to be objective to gain some credibility. I had hoped it would be more factual and less of an op-ed draft.
The author talks about the Saudi-led coalition in one of his chapters and claims Iran had supported the Houthis only after Saudi joined. He states “they welcomed Iranian help to fight back” (mans sources: “trust me i know”) leaving aside the fact that iran has been present in yemen way before that, as it has been present in different areas of the gulf as well as Africa. His inability and failure to mention this shows his poor understanding of the situation; which i doubt, this is more of a selective perception bias.
The security threat that the expansionist Iran poses on the region is not to be taken lightly.
Same goes to how the author minimizes the gulf crisis to a simple hacking fight. Leaving aside the history of the conflict, the way Qatar weaponizes its media platform against its neighboring countries, funds several projects that attempt to defame them, and its actual involvement in the proxy war in yemen is yet another incident of his selective perception bias.
The author spends 3-4 chapters on MBS’s Rise to Power, while saves the rest of the book for his “Human Rights” agenda serving the liberal prejudice and reaffirming his superiority complex pov.
The author also mentions in the beginning of the book Khashoggi’s islamist views, his muslim brotherhood loyalty & his friendship with Osama bin Laden. Excluding the pathos and emotional appeal enforced in the book, what if he was actually posing a threat to the nation state?
seatonob's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a MUST for any American wanting you understand our country’s complicated relationship with the Saudis. MBS is a good primer for readers who desire more info about our entanglements with the Kingdom, and by extension with Qatar and Yemen.
Hubbard is uniquely qualified to write this as his extensive reporting for the NYT over the past decade have laid the groundwork for this magnificent profile of a man who will be a force in the Gulf for several more decades.
Hubbard is uniquely qualified to write this as his extensive reporting for the NYT over the past decade have laid the groundwork for this magnificent profile of a man who will be a force in the Gulf for several more decades.
exelone31's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating read about the duality of the rise of MBS.
rick2's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting biopic about the current crown prince of Saudi Arabia. If money is power, then MBS is possibly the most powerful person in the world. This book examines, him, his family and presents a lot of information surrounding what is typically an opaque guy.
harinid's review against another edition
3.0
Ben Hubbard's biography on MBS feels a bit too premature. While the text is littered with interesting anecdotes, it reads more as a scattered collection of articles rather than a well edited, single novel developing many facets of a character. The book, expectedly, spends a lot of time on the Khashoggi murder and in that does a better job of building Khashoggi's narrative rather than that of the young prince. As the book keeps coming back to Khashoggi, MBS' characterisation gets a bit repetitive and one dimensional. Nonetheless, there are a lot of interesting nuggets on the prince which any student of politics/ international relations would find extremely interesting.