Abstract
The meteoric rise of Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) from a researcher in the Bureau of Experts (a research body under the Saudi Cabinet) to be next in line of succession has astonished and intrigued scholars, experts, and casual observers of Middle Eastern politics. Amid this fascination, Ben Hubbard’s book MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman presents an account of political and sociopolitical developments within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the last 5 years. Essentially, notwithstanding the title, Hubbard’s book is not a biography. The book touches on various themes and subjects while attempting to show how various changes within Saudi Arabia, as a society and a country, are linked to a single individual—Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, popularly known as MbS.
MbS has emerged as a divisive figure among Middle East observers. One group views the Crown Prince as a futuristic and innovative leader who can bring the much-needed reforms in the kingdom’s economy, shifting its dependence away from oil and pull the society out of the conservative mold (p. 13). In contrast, the others portray MbS’s rise as a continuation of the autocratic family rule where the King has to act like an autocratic head of the state. They see MbS as a “brutal dictator” who has cracked down on dissenters to eliminate any challenge to his eventual rise to power (p. 13). The book engages with both viewpoints and explores the internal contradictions in the kingdom within the context of such external narratives.
The book informs the readers about the labyrinth of the Saudi monarchy and where King Salman and MbS are situated within this hierarchical structure. Hubbard notes that “two series of deaths” within the royal family placed King Salman and MbS closer to the Saudi throne (p. 11). Moreover, in the early 2000s, Salman had lost his eldest two sons from his first wife. This tragedy is said to have brought MbS closer to his father, something that continues to define their relationship, even today. After this, MbS, who was 16 at the time, spent most of his time shadowing his father who was charged with Riyadh’s governorship. A decade later, in another series of death in the royal family, King Salman’s first wife succumbed to kidney disease, followed by the demise of his brother Prince Sultan and half brother Prince Nayef, which led King Abdullah to declare Salman as the Crown Prince.
The book makes two implicit assertions about the MbS’s early days. Under the mentorship of his father, first, MbS profoundly understood the tribal and clerical politics of the kingdom. Secondly, Riyadh was the center of the social, political, and economic structures prevalent in the kingdom, which enabled the young prince to become aware of the working of the monarchy and the kingdom. These two factors proved beneficial in his quest of consolidating his position after breaking into the power corridors in 2015, first as Defense Minister and subsequently as Deputy Crown Prince. Hubbard notes that unlike his brothers, who admired the West and received education in the USA, MbS uncharacteristically stayed within and chose to study at the King Saud University in Riyadh like a common Saudi. Hubbard concludes, “MbS’ trajectory was profoundly different–largely domestic and deeply Saudi” (p. 11), the fact that many Saudis seem to appreciate.
Among the various themes and subjects about Saudi society that the book traverses through, three stand out. First, the issue of lifting the ban on women driving. Second, MbS’s efforts to change the existing perceptions about Saudi Arabia from an oil-dependent to a diversified economy, projecting as investor’s paradise, something that the kingdom heavily advertised during the October 2017 conference, dubbed as “Davos in the Desert.” During this event, the Crown Prince unveiled his multiple ambitious plans, including the “Vision 2030” and the US$500 billion city—NEOM—which was defined as the city of “dreamers” and a “civilizational leap for humanity” (pp. xv–xvi). The book shows how MbS navigated the palace politics in the early days to outwit Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (MBN) while expanding his role from the defense ministry to the interior ministry, intelligence matters (MBN’s prerogatives) and to foray into the economic policies. Third, the Jamal Khashoggi affair is covered over various chapters that expound on the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s life, exile, and his fall from grace.
Hubbard underlines various decisions by MbS, particularly the war in Yemen, the Saad Hariri affair, the Qatar blockade, and the infamous royal purge in which celebrity businesspeople and royals were house arrested in the lavish Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. These, along with the Khashoggi affair, dented MBS’s meteoric rise. The book discusses the Saudi–Iran rivalry, albeit with limited details and context. Moreover, the book illustrates the change in perceptions in Washington vis-à-vis Riyadh and vice versa. In this regard, the author remarkably contrasts President Obama’s and President Trump’s administrations and their respective approaches toward Riyadh. The book uses MbS’s visit to the USA and President Trump’s much-publicized visit to the kingdom to illustrate the contrasts between the two administrations. Hubbard attempts to underscore the reasons for the convergence between MbS and Trump Administration, noting the mutual hostility toward Iran and the crucial role played by President Trump’s son-in-law and policy advisor Jared Kushner. Unfortunately, the details that the author provides in many of these issues remain limited.
The book is arranged into 26 short chapters (along with an introduction and afterword) that enable the reader to approach the book with ease. Even though the chapters can be read individually, linearly reading them is recommended. In terms of limitations, after the first half, the book begins to repeat itself on various subjects, such as women’s right to drive and discussions surrounding the social policing within the kingdom. Hubbard, a proficient Arabic speaker, has interviewed hundreds of people for this book, illustrated in his usage of exciting anecdotes. However, the demography of interviews appears skewed in favor of dissidents or individuals antagonistic toward the kingdom. The book dwells more on a socio-politico survey of Saudi Arabia and is less of a biography of the Crown Prince that creates a mismatch between title of the book and its content. Readers who would approach the book as a biographical account of MbS would be disappointed. In a nutshell, Ben Hubbard’s MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman is a simple book that exposes the general readers to the kingdom’s contemporary politics and society; however, the book can be of little value to practitioners or experts in the subject.