Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Saudi succession Saga

I have never seen House of Saud being less cautious and less careful. The royal family has never been as rash and careless and reckless. This bode well for the enemies of the House of Saud. This augur for deep divisions in the royal family.  The foreign minister is a commoner, for the first time ever (contrary to media accounts, `Umar Saqqaf, was not a full foreign minister, but acting in that capacity).  The entire family of `Abdullah has been obliterated politically, as have sons of Faysal and sons of Sultan.  This can't go well with whole sections of the family.  Muhammad bin Salman moved too fast, very uncharacteristic.  Sons of `Abdullah adhered to the rules of the family by moving slowly, and now are paying the price.  Jubayr was more of an American appointment: Muhammad bin Nayif and `Adil Jubayr are US appointments. Muhammad bin Salman is clearly a wild card who makes Washington very nervous.