Saturday 25 November 2017

Saudi crown prince speaks his mind

Some new leaders make waves as soon as they take over. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia isn't strictly speaking the new Saudi leader, he's just the heir apparent to King Abdullah, but since being appointed he has certainly taken on the mantle of the man in charge. But he's already showing the same tendency as his friend Donald Trump to mouth off about other leaders. He has called Ayatollah Ali Khameini, Iran's supreme spiritual leader, the "new Hitler". Personally I don't think it helps for someone with huge power such as the Crown Prince to call the leader of another country, albeit a hated and feared one, the new Hitler. It's stupid, totally counter-productive and unimaginitive. Just like Trump calling Kim Jong-un the Little Rocket Man, it doesn't actually serve a purpose in the great scheme of things other than to annoy the person being insulted. Neither bin Salman nor Trump advanced the search for peaceful relations by their gratuitous comments. The Crown Prince is a man to watch on the world stage. He is clearly intent on not only stirring up Saudi Arabia - not a bad thing - but also playing a big power role in global, particularly Middle Eastern politics. Judging by what he has done so far - for example, bombing the Houthi militia out of existence in Yemen, with widespread collateral damage (killing civilians), and ordering the arrest of 200 fellow princes and others who have been milking the Saudi economy - he seems to be in a hurry to make a splash wherever he goes and whatever he does. If that brings desperately needed genuine reforms to Saudi Arabia, then his leadership will be positive. But there must be better ways of dealing with the threat posed by Iran than calling the supreme leader a new Hitler.

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