#Saudi Kings

[deadpresidents]

You have mentioned your interest in reading about Saudi Arabia and I share your interest, so I want to know if you think the crown prince will actually become king eventually?

Yes, without a doubt. The Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), is already the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia and has instituted major economic, cultural, and religious reforms over the past few years that have dramatically changed Saudi Arabia. (Of course, he has also been responsible for some impulsive foreign policy disasters and brutal human rights violations.) With the possible exception of the Emirati leader, Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ), the Saudi Crown Prince is already the most powerful leader in the Arab world.

King Salman is still alive (at least he was a few minutes ago), so he is officially in charge, but the King is nearly 88 years old and it is believed that he has been in failing health for a while now. It's not unusual for there to be a de factor ruler while the Saudi King is still living, and in every instance that de facto ruler ultimately succeeded the King. King Saud was forced to hand over power to the future King Faisal because Saud was utterly incompetent and unfit to effectively rule the country. King Khalid, who had assumed the throne when Faisal was assassinated in 1975, handed the reins over to future King Fahd because his health was failing. Fahd suffered a massive stroke in the 1990s, and future King Abdullah stepped in as de facto ruler until he was proclaimed King upon Fahd's death. So there's a lot of precedent for the de facto ruler to eventually become King in his own right. MBS has taken about as much control over Saudi Arabia as possible while still respecting the position of his father, but he's undoubtedly the person calling the shots and he's seemingly (and, in some cases, publicly) sidelined any potential threats to his rule once King Salman dies or abdicates.

Unless there is some shocking turn of events -- and it would probably take nothing short of a revolution at this point -- MBS will eventually succeed his father as King. That will make him the first grandson of Ibn Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state, to become King. Since the death of Ibn Saud in 1953, every one of his successors as King of Saudi Arabia has been one of his roughly 50 sons. And because MBS is still so young (he's only 38 years old right now), he will likely have the opportunity to rule Saudi Arabia and become the most influential leader in the Middle East for decades to come.

[chaiaurchaandni]

it is imp to remember that this is not about religion and the ethnic cleansing of artsakh proves this. all oppressive regimes are connected regardless of religion and that is why azerbaijan and israel have good relations. another example is saudi arabia having good relations with america and israel while also killing other muslims in yemen.

interestingly, like israel, saudi also uses religion to gain credibility (recently got holy mosque imam to give statement condemning boycotts and encouraging muslims to not be involved in the situation in palestine) and recruit muslim supporters from all over the world, while simultaneously killing/imprisoning muslim critics of the kingdom.

similarly, israel sells itself as a safe haven for jews and convinces jews around the world to migrate to israel while also simultaneously criminalizing antizionist jews all over the world, even suggesting that theyre not 'real jews' (reminiscent of takfirism which is a core part of saudi wahabi ideology) [ fun fact: the house of saud came into power in arabia with help from the british, just like the zionists in palestine! ]

oppressive regimes are directly connected and mirror each other in several ways. this is why liberation and resistance movements need to unite and work together across the world

[samijey]

happy sami wearing a thawb and keffiyeh saturday to all those who celebrate

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

Donald has always been owned by the Saudis and the Russians. Here he’s pictured with Reagan who gave birth to America’s downfall.

[sincericida]

ANDREW GARFIELD

at the Red Sea International Film Festival 2023.

[foreign-minister]

King salman

[petit-papillion]

Just Quali King things...

This also illustrates the lengths Charles has to go to just to be able to get close to Max and his rocket ship car...

[russellius]

GEORGE RUSSELL Thursday | 2023 SAUDI ARABIAN GP © Clive Mason

[just-an-inchi-dent]

alex might just have the worse australian accent ever known to man

[deadpresidents]

How many absolute monarchs are there in the world?

•King Salman of Saudi Arabia •Pope Francis •Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman •Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei •The King of Swaziland (now Eswatini): King Mswati III of Swaziland (AKA Eswatini) •United Arab Emirates: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (Each of the seven Emirates that form the UAE have their own absolute monarch and Sheikh MBZ, as leader of Dubai, is the overall ruler of the nation.)

Did I miss anybody? I think those are the only absolute monarchs still in power today. The rest of the world's royalty are constitutional monarchs, so they reign but do not rule.

(There's an argument for including Kim Jong Un on the list of absolute monarchs despite the fact that he's not a King and North Korea is a Communist country. He's obviously a dictator, but the Kim dynasty has virtually ruled North Korea like a secular monarchy for nearly 75 years with the supreme leaders inheriting their power through hereditary succession. Kim Jong Un took over immediately upon the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, who had assumed power when his father -- North Korea's first paramount leader, Kim Il Sung -- died in 1994. Of course, North Korea isn't officially considered a monarchy, but the manner in which the Kim family has ruled the country and transferred power from father-to-son for three generations and counting resembles the structure of an absolute monarchy more than a "traditional" totalitarian dictatorship.)

[charlesleclerc]

this is the first laver cup i've watched properly and it has confirmed to me that i need jannik to play next year

[the-wrestling-cave]

Some of the girls in Saudi.

[royal-confessions]

“In 1973 the US threatened to bomb Saudis oil fields after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia cut off their supply for supporting Israel, King Faisal replied “You're the ones who can't live without oil. We come from the desert, our ancestors lived on dates/milk, we can go back and live like that again!” In 2023, Crown Prince MBS said “We condemn what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities. We stress on the need to stop this war and the forced displacement of Palestinians” LITERALLY A MONTH AFTER the crisis started. What a weak ass man. Have the guts to bonesaw dissident but no guts to stand up for Palestinians like his family did in the past.” - Submitted by Anonymous

[swiftferrari]

McLarens pit wall once again begging Oscar to be pettier on radio so they can complain.

[tamamita]

Look if God had told me He'd send plagues upon the gulf states for taking my people as slaves, I'd say go ahead lol