Salman's Legacy: The Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia.

• Author: Beig, Aadil Shafi
• Position: Book review

Salman's Legacy:

The Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia

Edited By Madawi Al-Rasheed

London: C. Hurst & Co. Publications, 2018, 367 pages, $42.13, ISBN: 9781849049658

The turbulent changes witnessed in Saudi Arabia ever since the appointment of Mohhamad Bin Salman (MBS) as the Crown Prince has shifted the focus on King Salman's regime and the challenges ahead. The changes taking place in Saudi Arabia and across the Arab world as a result of this transition call for a careful examination of these challenges. The book under review attempts to do precisely that. In the introduction to this anthology, Madawi al-Rasheed highlights the challenges facing the regime, which may be a confluence of social, economic, and political factors, backed by active citizenry, and which are set to produce some serious internal upheavals in the kingdom. The book is distributed in three parts, with each part reflecting on different facets of the Saudi regime, including both the domestic and foreign affairs of the country, and the factors driving the regime, which include its official Wahhabi ideology.

In the first part, entitled "State and Society," Madawi al-Rasheed provides an insight into the Saudi monarchy and how they have managed to come up with several measures to deal with issues ranging from succession, oil crisis, to the troublesome regional rivalries, especially with Iran, and reaching out to the Asian and Gulf countries towards mending its relationship with the U.S. despite growing strife within the royal family. The debates of succession have always been a contentious issue. By making an amendment in Article B of the Basic Law and by appointing his son as the Crown Prince, King Salman has ensured that succession from now on will be horizontal to vertical. Steffen Hertog points to the initiatives taken by the regime to thwart any chances of rebellion; these come in the shape of different incentives offered to people by the regime, including 'rent distribution to depoliticize the citizens and stabilize the regime.' The same tactic was followed when the Saudi regime felt threatened by the left-led movements. Hertog quashes the aspersions which cast doubts over the Saudi regime's survival and argues that the regime will survive, albeit with a diminished patronage.

In the chapter, entitled "Saudi Regime Stability and Challenges," F. Gregory Gause III reflects on the intersection of different factors which include oil-funded patronage networks, the...