The kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was once shunned in diplomatic circles. Now he is playing an important role in negotiations over Gaza and Ukraine.
Diplomatic meetings this week in Saudi Arabia represent a remarkable turnabout for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, shown in 2018.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has long angled to play a leading role on the world stage, was at the diplomatic center this week of two of the globe’s most pressing crises.
On Monday, Prince Mohammed met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to discuss both the future of Gaza and the Ukraine war. The following day in Riyadh, there were friendly talks between Russia and the United States.
And on Friday, the kingdom is expected to host Arab officials to plan for the reconstruction of Gaza.
That Saudi Arabia is the setting for talks with such monumental stakes stands as further evidence that the crown prince—known by his initials, M.B.S.—is well on his way to achieving his goal of becoming a global power player.
The meetings represent a remarkable turnabout for Prince Mohammed, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom’s de facto leader who was shunned for a time in diplomatic circles. He was accused of severe human rights abuses that he has denied, including approving the killing in 2018 of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident.
Here is what to know about the crown prince’s past actions and his plans for Saudi Arabia.
A new vision for the kingdom
In 2016, about a year after his father, King Salman, ascended the throne, Prince Mohammed, then a deputy crown prince, introduced Vision 2030. The bold plan aimed to diversify the kingdom’s economy and make it less reliant on oil. It included increasing the number of Saudis in private employment, including women; soliciting foreign investment; and selling shares of Saudi Aramco, the state oil monopoly, to raise capital to invest in other sectors, like tourism.
That blueprint helped M.B.S. clinch his role as crown prince and heir apparent to the throne.
For his economic plan to succeed, the prince also needed to introduce major top-down changes that loosened conservative social strictures.
The prince pledged to reverse a much-vilified ban on women driving. He also kicked off a lavish financial conference to sell investors on Saudi Arabia.
