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A review by sreeraag_mohan
Mbs: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman by Ben Hubbard
4.0
“Osama bin Laden’s hijacked planes not only attacked New York and Washington, they also attacked Islam as a faith and the values of tolerance and coexistence that it preaches.”
9/11 was a watershed moment in the Islamic world: it is the definitive moment in history when Islamophobic rhetoric gained resonance across the world and it is also when the Western world woke up to unearth how its ally in the Middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, actually functions. For decades, the Western world has turned a blind eye to Saudi authoritarianism, denial of human rights and sheer absence of executive transparency or accountability in exchange for an uninterrupted supply of oil. Not anymore.
Since then, the world has embarked on multiple endeavours to overthrow so called dictators and spread democracy, all the while ignoring the Saudis and letting them do their thing. But then, the oil wells began to run out and the money that had fattened the Saudi economy stopped. Something had to be done fast, before the coffers empty out and the people revolt. Enter Mohammed bin Salman.
MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman does not intend to be an autobiography of the young prince, but aims to be a chronicle of his rise to power, and the factors that led him to take charge of the country and make sweeping changes to its social and legislative structures. Ben Hubbard paints as objective a picture of him as is possible, and even lauds the socioeconomic changes that he has instantiated in the kingdom. Hubbard does not shy away from criticising MBS's more controversial decisions, such as the 2017 Saudi Arabia-Lebanon crisis or the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. In his afterword, Hubbard does concede that MBS's efforts on the social front are laudable, but without losing a breath, Hubbard states that if MBS deserves credit for his good deeds, he must also take responsibility for the bad.
A mighty expectation from a de facto sultan, who are hitherto unused to any criticism whatsoever.
9/11 was a watershed moment in the Islamic world: it is the definitive moment in history when Islamophobic rhetoric gained resonance across the world and it is also when the Western world woke up to unearth how its ally in the Middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, actually functions. For decades, the Western world has turned a blind eye to Saudi authoritarianism, denial of human rights and sheer absence of executive transparency or accountability in exchange for an uninterrupted supply of oil. Not anymore.
Since then, the world has embarked on multiple endeavours to overthrow so called dictators and spread democracy, all the while ignoring the Saudis and letting them do their thing. But then, the oil wells began to run out and the money that had fattened the Saudi economy stopped. Something had to be done fast, before the coffers empty out and the people revolt. Enter Mohammed bin Salman.
MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman does not intend to be an autobiography of the young prince, but aims to be a chronicle of his rise to power, and the factors that led him to take charge of the country and make sweeping changes to its social and legislative structures. Ben Hubbard paints as objective a picture of him as is possible, and even lauds the socioeconomic changes that he has instantiated in the kingdom. Hubbard does not shy away from criticising MBS's more controversial decisions, such as the 2017 Saudi Arabia-Lebanon crisis or the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. In his afterword, Hubbard does concede that MBS's efforts on the social front are laudable, but without losing a breath, Hubbard states that if MBS deserves credit for his good deeds, he must also take responsibility for the bad.
A mighty expectation from a de facto sultan, who are hitherto unused to any criticism whatsoever.