Name: Fight Over the SUCCESSION in Saudi Arabia? - VisualPolitik EN
Uploaded: 2017-08-01T07:24:30.000Z
Duration: 12 min 11 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

We told you in a previous video about how
Saudi Arabia wants to leave behind, once and

for all, its addiction to oil, and become
a nation similar to Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

In this video, we’re going to look at this
country in more depth in order to get an idea

of how this mission to get free from oil is
going.

The thing is there is a specific name, a leader
behind this ambitious plan.

Well, for those of you who don't, the person
who is turning everything upside down is Mohamed

 
But a name alone doesn't explain much, so

now you might be wondering: Who is this man
really?

Well, these are the questions we are going
to be answering in today’s Visual Politik

He might be only a little more than 30 years
old, but Mohamed Bin Salman is already one

of the most powerful people in the world and
he controls more money than we could ever

Formally, he is Minister of Defense, Deputy
Crown Prince, Second Deputy Prime Minister,

Chief of the Royal Court and Chair of the
Council for Economic and Development Affairs...

Well, it kind of means that Mohamed Bin Salman
is in control of everything…

He's got complete control over the country’s
oil, over the massive financial reserves that

have been accumulated over the years and,
also, over Saudi Arabia’s massive defence

So, today, the power of the prince is practically
total.

 
And, hey, this isn't something normal.

Never has such a young man had so much power
before.

Up until now, the norm was for the country
to be controlled by seniors of 80 years or

more who were very reluctant for any kind
of change.

But all of a sudden, change is underfoot,
because what Mohammed Bin Salman is trying

to do with Saudi Arabia is to turn it into
a new United Arab Emirates, a country which

the prince has an enormous amount of admiration
for.

Later, we are going to see just how he is
doing this, but for now, you need to bear

The youth of the country cheer Bin Salman
as the savior of the Kingdom.

And this is a country where half of its population
is less than 25 years old so, well, that is

But, now you might be wondering: Where does
this man come from?

How can such a young man have so much power?

Well… he is the son of the current King.

But wait a second before you exclaim: “Well!

You do need to know that being the son of
the king in Saudi Arabia wasn't such an important

thing, in fact, for now, Bin Salman is not
even the heir of the Saudi throne...

Salman bin Abdulaziz is the king of Saudi
Arabia, he is the son of the man who is considered

the founder of the country: Abdulaziz Bin
Saud.

Well, since Saud died in 1953, the kingdom
has been inherited by brother after brother.

AUDIO: (Abdulaziz Bin Saud had 17 known wives
and it is calculated that he also had around

So there were quite a few potential heirs).

The thing is that, when the current king,
who is believed to be the 25th son, reached

power a few years ago in 2015, the first thing
he did was to change the laws of succession.

Even though some of his brothers are still
alive, he has decided to put the new generations

To do this, he decided to appoint his nephew,
Mohammed Bin Nayef, who is closer to Washington

than others, and he has been in charge for
security in the last years, as well as the

secret services and the fight against fundamentalism.

 
However, it seems like young Mohammed Bin

Salman, the main character in this video,
is not very happy about that, and it seems

He wants to become the future king of Saudi
Arabia.

 
So, his eagerness for reforms could be explained

The fall of the prices in oil has given Mohammed
Bin Salman the opportunity to aim for the

throne, which is something his father obviously
supports.

 
If Saudi Vision 2030 starts showing good results,

Bin Salman will be in a better position to
ask for a reward, and become, potentially,

 
However, there are a few problems on the road

ahead, both for Bin Salman as well as for
the country.

 
On the one hand, there are problems inside

the royal family: Bin Salman has made a lot
of enemies who accuse him of being power hungry.

On the other hand, his father, the current
king, is quite old (81) and he seems to have

So this means there are two possible scenarios
ahead:

 
If the current king lives for many more years,

the prince, Bin Salman will be able to consolidate
his power.

However, if the king doesn’t live so long,
the current heir, Bin Salman’s cousin, could

become the new king and wish goodbye both
to the prince and his Saudi Vision 2030 vision.

But I am sure that some of you are thinking
by now: Well, this is all fascinating Simon,

but why should I care about what happens in
Saudi Arabia?

Well, you should care, and probably more than
you might think.

Saudi Arabia is still the biggest oil producer
and it is also the most important and influential

An evolution towards openness for this country
could be something very positive for the world,

and for now, the planned Saudi Vision 2030
seems to be the only opportunity for the country

But, now that we’ve said that, what exactly
is the plan for this country?

So far in today’s story, we have seen a
handsome prince and a battle over the throne...

But we need a third ingredient for this Saudi
soap opera: luxury and money...

Well, of all the royal families in the world,
the Sauds, the royal household of Saudi Arabia

might be the most addicted to money and luxury.

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Fight Over the SUCCESSION in Saudi Arabia? - VisualPolitik EN

massive

opportunity

character

progress