Name? Mohammad Bin Salman, or MBS to his friends others.
Westphalian identity? Saudi Arabia, House of Saud.
Age? 34
Why is he in the news? He is a regular of course. As crown prince and de facto national leader he has pursued an aggressive set of policies to consolidate his domestic power and to reform the Saudi economy into a post-oil powerhouse. He is in the news because he is, well, an utter failure on both counts. This past week he has detained more of his unruly family members, signalling he is by no means secure of his position.
More interestingly, he has chosen to take on Vladimir Putin in a fight about oil production. Saudi led OPEC- formerly known as influential- wanted to cut worldwide production to fight steeply declining prices because of our mishandling of Covid19. Putin said “no” because his economy is about two roubles away from collapsing and now MBS threatens to do the opposite of what he initially wanted: flood the market with cheap Saudi oil to show Vlad who’s boss. Our money is on Vlad.
Why do we care? A few reasons. MBS is fascinating: he is the quintessential psychological profile that makes the world go round. Someone who has no business making major policy decisions and yet gets access to all the political and economic elites because he represents money. Also, these oil-soaked leaders fighting is like watching two high-school bullies going at it. Rationally you reject violence and conflict, but emotionally you love seeing them land those blows on each other’s faces.
Why should you care? Well, mostly because oil prices are important for the world economy and the environment. And because Middle East wars are decided by dudes like these. But you probably care because it is linked to Corona.
Who else cares? Besides a few investors in oil stock, not that many people. You see, there’s the virus going round and even though we do not fully understand it yet, it is clear that it affects our cognitive abilities in such a way that it’s the only thing we can think of.
Any further comments? Congratulations to Iran. Your rival is weaker and your relationship with Moscow stronger. The Corona God giveth, and the Corona God taketh away.
