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Something is definitely going on in Saudi Arabia:
Saudi authorities arrested at least 11 princes, several current ministers and dozens of former ministers in a sweeping move reportedly designed to consolidate power for the son of King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. According to media reports citing Saudi-owned television network Al Arabiya, an anti-corruption committee ordered the arrests hours after King Salman directed the creation of the committee, headed by his favorite son and adviser, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The committee was established by the royal decree, The Associated Press reports, "due to the propensity of some people for abuse, putting their personal interest above public interest, and stealing public funds." Billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is among those detained, The Wall Street Journal reports. Alwaleed holds stakes in some of the world's major companies, including Apple and Twitter.
Remember Prince Alwaleed? Bitcoin could outlive him.
It's unclear what those arrested are accused of doing, but Al-Arabiya reported that new investigations into the 2009 Jeddah floods and 2012 MERS virus outbreak have been launched.
Separately, the heads of the Saudi National Guard and Saudi Royal Navy have also been replaced.
BBC notes that the reform faction is in control here:
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says Prince Mohammed is moving to consolidate his growing power while spearheading a reform programme. [...] Prince Mohammed recently said the return of "moderate Islam" was key to his plans to modernise Saudi Arabia. Addressing an economic conference in Riyadh, he vowed to "eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon". Last year, Prince Mohammed unveiled a wide-ranging plan to bring social and economic change to the oil-dependent kingdom.
Some Soylentils have been skeptical of Saudi Arabia's recent moves towards liberalization (some listed below). Has this apparent purge of internal political opposition changed your mind about the viability of these reforms?
Also at NYT and Recode, which notes that the arrest of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is a potential setback for Saudi Arabia's tech ambitions (Alwaleed has had stakes in Apple, Twitter, and Lyft).
Previously: SoftBank May Sell 25% of ARM to Vision Fund; Chairman Meets With Saudi King
Saudi Arabia, UAE to Donate to Women Entrepreneurs Fund
Saudi Arabia to Lift Ban on Online VoIP and Video Calling Services
Saudi Arabia Will Lift Ban on Women Drivers Next Year
Saudi Arabia Planning $500 Billion Megacity and Business Zone
Robot Granted "Citizenship" in Saudi Arabia, Sparking Backlash
Saudi Arabia Announced Plans to Extract Uranium for Domestic Nuclear Power Program
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday November 06 2017, @06:16PM (1 child)
Both Bahrain and North Korea use both the carrot (wealth and/or power given out by the head of state) and the stick (threats of execution).
For example, as far as outsiders can tell, North Koreans are pretty eager to join the military. Why? Because soldiers get fed before civilians do. But of course North Koreans also face the constant threat of execution by their government.
Bahrain of course has oil money coming in that the monarch can dole out as he sees fit. That said, a major reason Bahrain's monarch wasn't overthrown during the "Arab Spring" protests is that he simply had a bunch of the protesters killed (this didn't get a lot of press in the West because Bahrain is generally friendly to Western governments).
And in both nations, I'm sure you'll find True Believers who genuinely support their nations' leaders. Propaganda is good for that sort of thing.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @08:09PM
It's a lot more nuanced than this. In North Korea there is only one ethnic group, where as in Bhahrain there are two (yes technically both Arabs). The Sunnis, which are in power, only represent about 40% of the permanent population (just like any other Gulf state there is a huge amount of guest workers that do the actual work). But they tend to immigrate lot of Sunnis from other nearby countries (like Saudi Arabia) to work in their security apparatus. The Shia "majority" has long been oppressed, and is keen to overthrow the Sunni rule with help of Iran, but many of their recent plots have been very expertly disassembled before they could happen.
The rulers enjoy support from the 40% Sunni population, thus it is not the case of a despot at the top. In such a case a revolution is unlikely to succeed unless there is a direct outside intervention. And any time there is even a hint of unrest, Saudi Arabia sends in armored convoys of troops to help put down the current troubles over the causeway that links the two countries. (See example [wikipedia.org])
It is a very strange land from what I have read. Think about a less conservative Islamic country that has May 1st as a national holiday and universal healthcare.