A new Brookings Institution essay written by Bruce Riedel have looked into the profile of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, his rise, his influence and the path he would be taking forward.
Bruce Riedel is the director of the Intelligence Project at Brookings Institution, one of Washington D.C.'s oldest think tanks, conducting research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy and global economy.
In his essay, Riedel described Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef as the "most pro-American Saudi prince we have seen in over a generation," saying, "He is by inclination inclined to work with United States of America. He probably will put the kingdom in fairly safe hands..."
"In Muhammad bin Nayef's hands, Saudi Arabia will be a secure and serious ally of the United States in fighting the war on terrorism," Riedel wrote in his essay. "But he faces severe challenges: low oil income; a potential quagmire in Yemen; and internecine squabbling within the royal family. Whether or not he will be able to steer the Saudi ship forward safely through those is an open question."
Aside from his essay, Riedel also recently sat with BBC international affairs correspondent Kim Ghattas, where Riedel was asked about his insights on the intensifying rivalry between the Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman Al Saud.
Looking ahead, Riedel said, "Saudi Arabia as you know is an extraordinarily closed society and the workings of the royal family even more closed than that. So, there's a lot of speculation about what's going on... but we really don't know what the dynamics in the relationship between MBS and MBN are."
Riedel further commented that "it's safe to say there is a rivalry" and that there's a lot of consternation within the royal family.
It was previously reported that a "game of thrones" is happening in Saudi Arabia between the Crown Prince who acts as the country's interior minister and the Deputy Crown Prince who heads the defense ministry.
The growing rivalry between the two, consequently, results to a power struggle. "It's resulting in some disturbing policies abroad and internally," said Frederic Wehrey of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
