To rule with the carrot of freedom and the stick of repression is the goal of all long-term autocratic leaders.
Mohammed bin Salam, or MBS as he is widely referred to, has been mostly successful in this approach since he assumed power in Saudi Arabia in 2016.
He has made a social pact with the young people of the country, one commentator explained.
It goes something like this: ‘I will give you freedom to enjoy concerts, top class sport and entertainment, I will remove the religious police, allow women greater freedom, including the right to drive, but if you challenge me or my right to rule there will be serious consequences.’
This two-part BBC documentary explores the often sudden and dramatic modernisations MBS has brought to Saudi, but also the repression, restriction and death.
MBS was a long way from the King’s throne when he was a young man.
His father is the 25th son (of 45) of the founder of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, and MBS is the seventh son of his father.
Unusually, for an absolute monarchy, the throne does not pass down though the eldest male son but sideways through the sons of Ibn Saud, meaning a succession of slightly younger but still elderly men took the throne.
Happenstance meant his father became King Salman in 2015 but his ill health means MBS, as nominated Crown Prince, effectively runs the country.
‘The Kingdom: The World’s Most Powerful Prince’ relies on confidants of MBS, journalists, spies and diplomats to explain his rise to power and his plan to transform his country.
And these plans are more important to the lives of ordinary people around the world than you may realise.
Saudi Arabia is, strategically and economically, an extremely important player.
It is the second largest producer of crude oil in the world and as a leading member of OPEC its production decisions affect the price of oil worldwide.
In a highly volatile part of the world, Saudi is also a regional partner of the United States and a bulwark against Iran, although under MBS Saudi has been flirting with Russia and China.
Saudi is also now a major player in some of the world’s most popular sports, including golf, Formula One, boxing and football.
The first episode takes us through the politics of the royal court as MBS positions himself for a shot at power. Unusually for a senior royal he was educated at home and developed some troubling tendencies.
A judge who ruled against him in a property dispute is said to have been sent a bullet in the post, gaining MBS his nickname: ‘The bullet guy’.
And this impulse to strike out has stuck with him, most notably the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. MBS denies involvement but accepts some of his staff were there.
He was shunned internationally since the killing but gradually all is being forgiven, particularly now that the Middle East is on the verge of another war.
However, alongside the violence, he has brought a host of positive changes to his country.
He has begun to sideline the ultra-conservative religious leaders, bringing new freedoms, particularly to women.
He has tried to rebalance the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and pivot to business, sport and tourism, announcing the $500 billion construction of The Line, a 170km long linear city stretching into the desert from the Red Sea port of Noem.
And he was seeking to normalise relations with Israel before it was scuppered by Hamas on October 7.
Western diplomats hope that MBS, now 38, has grown out of “impulsive” behaviour (Yemen, Khashoggi) and can be relied upon as a stabilising influence for many decades ahead.
