MBS review: why Trump and the west took a pass on the Khashoggi killing

Source: The Guardian

March 8, 2020 at 07:19

Donald Trump ,speaks to Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan in June 2019. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Ben Hubbard delivers a fine account of the crown prince’s rise – and how the murder of a journalist did not bring him down

In 2015, the veteran New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wrote a “Letter from Saudi Arabia” in which he extolled a younger generation of Saudi royals and gushed that Mohammed bin Salman, five years later crown prince of the desert kingdom, brimmed with fresh ideas.

Come 2017, Friedman announced: “Only a fool would predict [the] success [of Saudi reform] – but only a fool would not root for it.”

In between the two columns, Prince Mohammed had embarked on an iron-fisted anti-corruption drive or purge, reportedly engineered the temporary detention and resignation of Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s prime minister, and openly backed a bloody civil war in Yemen against Iran and its proxies.

Then, on 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and journalist resident in the US and writing for the Washington Post, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, reportedly at the direction of the prince.

Enter Ben Hubbard, the New York Times Beirut bureau chief, with his first book, MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman.

Hubbard delivers a highly informed portrait, leavening his narrative with well-deserved skepticism, and leaves the reader wondering what lies ahead for the prince and his kingdom.

Trump has remained steadfast in his praise for the prince. Human rights and a free press were never a priority

This does not purport to be a comprehensive biography. Rather, Hubbard focuses on the prince’s rise, his accretion and exercise of power, and weaves past reporting into a readily readable package. As to be expected, the prince declined to be interviewed.

Hubbard paints the early years with a broad brush. Among other things, MBS is depicted as being “into Margaret Thatcher”. As one Saudi royal recalls, the prince “always enjoyed talking about the Iron Lady”. Hubbard also stresses that the prince was educated inside the kingdom, unlike others who were schooled in the US or Europe. His arc is home-grown.

The book is not a brochure or advertorial. Hubbard spells out the restrictions the Saudis imposed on his travels within the kingdom and reiterates that he was the victim of a purported text message hack attack.

According to the University of Toronto’s Citizens Lab, Hubbard was targeted by spyware known as “Pegasus”, made by Israel’s NSO Group. As reported by the Guardian, it is a distinction Hubbard allegedly shares with Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post. Other victims included Saudi dissidents and rights activists.

As Hubbard makes clear, the prince is ruthless salesman. In 2016, he unveiled Saudi Vision 2030, a plan to diversify the economy and its reliance upon oil as an economic driver. When he speaks, people listen.

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