The U.S. Loses a Trusted Partner in Fighting Terrorism

By Thomas Lippman

Thomas W. Lippman is the author of Saudi Arabia on the Edgeand an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute.    He was a correspondent at the Washington Post for 33 years, 1966-1999.

Before leaving Saudi Arabia last week for a long holiday in Morocco, King Salman issued a decree officially putting his young son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in charge during his absence.

Under the Saudi system, that was a routine step because crown princes have often become, in effect, acting kings during royal absences. But in the case of Prince Mohammed, known as MbS, it took on new significance because he had already taken control of most of the government anyway and has clearly put himself in position to succeed his 81-year-old father sooner rather than later. His rapid and relentless reach for power has paid off.

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+

Categorized as:InternationalTagged with:

Related Articles

How Safe Would We Be Without Section 702?

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that has generated controversy around fears of the potential for abuse has proven to be crucial […] More

Search

Close