Mohammed Al-Minshawi-Washington

A new book, published yesterday in the United States of America, asked whether the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could be "a sane ruler, or will he continue his reckless surprises."

The book "The Rise of Muhammad bin Salman" - which came in 384 pages, and was written by Bin Hubbard, director of the office of "The New York Times" in the Lebanese capital Beirut - tried to answer the question by reviewing the record of the Saudi crown prince and analyzing his most important political stances.

The book dived into historical details of the ruling family in Saudi Arabia, which prompted King Salman bin Abdulaziz to violate the approach of his father, the founder of the state, in not retaining the throne dynasty among the king's sons, and then the escalation of his favorite son Muhammad to succeed him in power, in a peaceful coup against the arrangements agreed upon among the sages the family.

The writer relied on various visits that led him to meet the most prominent Saudi officials and intellectuals in recent years, and he also met with many US officials and experts concerned with the future of relations between Riyadh and Washington.

Director of the New York Times Office in Beirut Bin Hubbard (American Press)

The writer mentioned that some warned him against publishing a complete book on the young, young crown prince, and accused him of myopia for that, as Muhammad bin Salman could rule his country for decades to come, which may cost the writer a lot.

Inexperienced
The writer presents the history of Muhammad bin Salman from his birth in 1985 until the consequences of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his country's consulate in Istanbul before the end of 2018.

It indicates that Bin Salman was five years old when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in the summer of 1990, and that he had not reached the age of sixteen when the September 11, 2001 attacks planned by Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, occurred.

The writer states that bin Salman "did not successfully manage any company, did not receive any military education or training, and that he did not master any foreign language that enabled him to speak it, and he did not learn at any foreign university. Bin Salman did not spend any long period in the United States Or Europe, from here the surprise was his escalation so quickly in the Saudi palace of rule. "

The limits of recklessness
The plan to escalate Muhammad bin Salman began by naming him Minister of Defense and supervising the office of his father, King of Saudi Arabia. Bin Salman brags that ten days after his father came to power, he has "restructured the entire Saudi government," which many experts saw as a messy process hampering the stable Saudi bureaucracy.

According to the book, the rate of change was rapid enough to be dangerous. In March 2015 - two months after he assumed the duties of the Ministry of Defense - Bin Salman ordered the start of Saudi military intervention in the civil war in Yemen.

The war in Yemen has left a bad image for the Saudi crown prince around the world, especially after the Saudi air strikes killed thousands of innocent civilians, including schoolchildren, patients and hospitals.

The war resulted in one of the greatest tragedies of humanity in the twenty-first century, and many Western experts blame this on Muhammad bin Salman.

The book devotes significant space to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as it is evidence of the recklessness and lack of experience of the crown prince and his senior aides and advisors.

The book states that the CIA has ended Muhammad bin Salman’s responsibility for the murder of Khashoggi, by giving orders to his adviser Saud al-Qahtani and the Rapid Intervention Group squad to silence his opponents inside and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The book indicates that Turkish intelligence allowed its American counterpart and United Nations investigators to listen to the records of the killing and disposal of the body, and it was confirmed that this was done by close associates of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

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On the other hand, the book pointed to the extent of the common interests between Bin Salman and the family of President Donald Trump, and how the former tried to get close to Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner by attacking former President Barack Obama.

A former US official, who spoke to Al-Jazeera Net, believes that Mohammed bin Salman "aims to achieve two goals: the first relates to the attack on Obama to please Trump, and the second is to express anger at Obama's positions toward Iran."

During his press interview with Bloomberg on October 5, 2018, bin Salman stated that "Obama, during his eight-year tenure, has worked against most of our agendas, not only in Saudi Arabia but in the Middle East. Although the United States has worked Against our agenda, we were able to protect our interests. The end result was that we succeeded, and that the US under Obama’s leadership had failed, for example in Egypt. ”

According to observers, the Saudi crown prince does not realize that such statements - in addition to his record of rule - are deducted from his balance with the Democrats. The two candidates, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, take a hostile stance from him and his policies, especially towards Yemen and Qatar, and Saudi opponents.

Question about the future
The conclusion of the book came not foreshadowing the future of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, nor the future of its current Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, but rather asked a question about their future.

The writer says that his book "does not fully tell us about the story of Muhammad bin Salman, as he focused on his rise to the mandate of the covenant and the related events and influences within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its relations with the United States, and the impact of all of this on the Middle East."

Bin Haberd chose to conclude the book with a phrase that reflected anxiety and doubts about what Muhammad bin Salman would bring, and he said the following: "Muhammad bin Salman will determine how his story ends, but this book brought him, it was only the beginning."