Some good info in comments at source.
“A big part of the modernization is entering closer relations with Israel”
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That’ll make him some enemies.
Is it properly called a “coup” when it’s being executed by the monarch?
I think its more of a purge than a coup.
Either the Saudis reform or they collapse. The stark reality is that Islamic culture is not compatible with the values, institutions, and practices that constitute modernity. With modern travel, the internet and and communications change is inevitable. The barbaric jihadists at their core were bitter reactionaries unable to accept the changes that are inevitable. It would appear all that time the Saudi royals spend in the West and at Wesrern schools and universities has had some effect.
It’s good to know that at least some of the Saudi Royals have the desire to take their country and their society out of the Dark Ages. The trouble is, any serious modernizing reformer is going to be up against Wahhabi clerics who wield more “soft power” in the form of public allegiance than any of the Royals could hope for.
Now THERE is an understatement!
Local Reno NBC channel early this am had a ticker item:
Saudi Prince (s) in place crash....nothing else.
Anyone know what this is all about???
Wasn’t there an attempted coup against the Royal house of Saud back in the 1970s? I remember hearing of rumors of military officers being executed by being forced to jump out of airplanes at 30,000 feet.