April 1, 2026
The Man Who Would Be King; Mohammad bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia
Karen Elliott House
Pulitzer Prize -winning journalist with nearly five decades of experience covering Saudi Arabia
The Man Who Would Be King; Mohammad bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia
Karen Elliott House
Pulitzer Prize -winning journalist with nearly five decades of experience covering Saudi Arabia
Elliot Daley, introducer, and Karen Elliott House
Minutes of the 25th Meeting of the 84th Year
George Bustin, Old Guard President, called the meeting to order and presided. Frances Slade led the invocation. Attendance at the meeting was 112. There were five guests present: Peter Kann (guest of Patty Daley and husband of Ms. House), Raquel Rahim (guest of Ricardo Fernandez), Rick Bowers (guest of Henry Von Kohorn) and Bev and Margot Glockler (guests of Tony Glockler).
No minutes of the prior week’s meeting were read, because Jim Hockenberry had been the minute taker. In a somber episode, Bustin relayed that Hockenberry had passed away during the prior week. A moment of silence was requested. Julie Elward-Berry is the minute-taker for this talk. Bustin then reminded the audience that the next meeting (April 8) will be held at the Nassau Club, followed by a return to the Jewish Center to finish the season.
Elliott Daley introduced the speaker, Karen Elliott House, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of two books about Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman. She has spent most of her career focused on the Middle East, having interviewed the current Crown Prince over 50 times. Raised in small town Matador, Texas, and educated in journalism at the University of Texas, she was editor of the Texas Daily her senior year. Upon graduation, she joined the Wall Street Journal for a long career focusing on the Middle East, which included working as a reporter, Foreign Editor and ultimately Editor and Publisher of the Journal.
Karen Elliott House began by listing the three issues she would discuss: Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, and why we should care about this part of the world and this person. A noteworthy fact, Saudi Arabia contains 23% of the world’s oil reserves and is twice the size of Texas. Saudi Arabia is also the center of Islam, a religion practiced by two billion people all over the world. It encompasses the two most holy sites in Islam, namely Medina, where the Prophet is buried, and Mecca, to which Muslims turn to pray five times per day.
The Al Saud dynasty is nearly three hundred years old, but in its current lineage was founded in 1932 when King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud conquered and joined the Arab tribes in the area together into a nation – Saudi Arabia. He ruled until 1953, leaving 43 sons from 23 wives to become the next leaders. The leadership pattern was established of aging men who ruled ten years on average, accomplishing little, and managing control through an ultraconservative governing style. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, ultra strict Wahhabi religious practices were added. King Salman is the seventh king of this dynasty, coming to power in 2015 at age 79.
Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) became the current Crown Prince in 2017, by hustling to work with and impress his father. At only age 39 today, he is the seventh son of King Salman (and the 1st son of the third wife), an unlikely successor. He is completely Saudi educated, graduating second in his law school class at King Saud University. He burst into this role with his Vision 2030, which has the goal of weaning the Saudi economy off its reliance on oil, and of providing real jobs for all Saudi adults, both men and women, while banning the religious police. Interestingly, in this new Saudi Arabia, women now comprise 58% of university graduates. Speaking excellent English, MBS is focusing on tourism and sports teams, as well as several large “giga” building projects, while opening up entertainment and music to its citizens.
However, Saudi Arabia remains a monarchy, which is now being challenged by the fighting by the US and Israel with Iran. MBS had signed a truce with Iran in 2023, but uncertainty remains around the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s use of “asymmetric” warfare to defend itself.
Respectfully submitted,
Julianne Elward-Berry