Influential Saudi Prince Wields New Power at King’s Side By Margherita Stancati in The Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2016

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Before his father ascended to the throne last year, Mohammed bin Salman was an obscure prince and few outside the kingdom knew his name.
Today, the 30-year-old has risen to a position of almost unrivaled power, emerging as the face of change in Saudi Arabia as it seeks to assert its regional leadership, overhaul its oil-dependent economy and recalibrate ties with the U.S.
Prince Mohammed’s prominent role makes him one of the region’s most important figures. But there are also concerns among allies that Saudi Arabia’s more aggressive posture on issues including regional influence and oil policy could prove destabilizing.
Prince Mohammed, as he has been for years, is likely to be at King Salman’s side on Wednesday when President Barack Obama meets the Saudi monarch in Riyadh. The president’s visit, his fourth to the kingdom, is partly aimed at reassuring Arab Gulf countries—Saudi Arabia first among them—that Washington remains a trusted ally despite the recent diplomatic outreach to Iran that resulted in last year’s nuclear deal.
During his two-day visit to the kingdom, Mr. Obama will also attend a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. The visit comes against the backdrop of a shift in the Obama administration’s Middle East policy and the end of sanctions against Iran under last year’s nuclear deal. The deal, which took effect in January, has given Iran access to billions of dollars in oil revenue that had been frozen overseas, and left it less constrained to assert itself in the region.
Prince Mohammed has been his father’s point person for pushing back.
When King Salman came to power in early 2015, he handed Prince Mohammed two of the country’s most sensitive portfolios—the economy and defense and was soon elevated to the position of deputy crown prince, passing over scores of older family members, including several prominent half-brothers.
He is now the next in line to the throne after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a nephew of King Salman who, in contrast with the younger Prince Mohammed, has kept a low profile since his appointment a year ago. Today, the deputy crown prince is the kingdom’s most visible and outspoken leader.
While Prince Mohammed’s rapid rise surprised outsiders, people with knowledge of the royal court say he was a clear favorite. The eldest son of the king’s youngest wife, the prince stood by his father’s side long before he became the monarch.
“We Saudis saw it coming from the time King Salman was governor of Riyadh,” said a member of the royal family. “He was the closest son, the one who was always with him, the one who attended all his meetings. He clearly saw him as his right hand.”
The king’s decision to promote his son so suddenly marked a break of rewarding more senior princes, but it paved the way for a generational shift after decades of the throne passing from brother to brother.
Since coming to office, the second-in-line to the throne has pushed for ambitious overhauls of the country’s oil-dependent finances.
As head of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, a body King Salman created, the prince is the main architect of a soon-to-be unveiled multiyear economic plan aimed at reducing the kingdom’s dependence on oil, which currently makes up around 73% of revenue.
The prince, who has the reputation of a workaholic, also wields considerable influence over oil policy. Over the weekend, he scuttled a proposed deal between oil-producing countries aimed at freezing output because it excluded Iran, Saudi Arabia’s rival for regional influence. Prince Mohammed’s frequent pronouncements on oil-related issues suggests that he—rather than longtime Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi—may now have the last word on oil policy.
“Unfortunately, the people representing the Saudis at the meeting didn’t have any authority at all,” Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino told reporters in Moscow on Monday, referring to talks for the proposed deal. “Even Naimi didn’t have the authority to change anything.”
As minister of defense, he has overseen Saudi Arabia’s Yemen campaign, which began in March 2015 with the aim of countering the Houthi rebels and restoring the deposed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to power. Riyadh and its allies are now seeking a negotiated end to the costly war, which has left more than 6,200 people dead.
The kingdom sees the war against the Houthis, who adhere to the Zaidi offshoot of Shiite Islam, as part of a broader power struggle with Shiite-majority Iran—Riyadh’s chief foreign-policy concern.
Saudi Arabia’s Western allies have warned against confrontation with Iran. Mr. Obama, in remarks published in the Atlantic, recently said Saudi Arabia’s competition with Iran risked fueling the Middle East’s sectarian conflicts.
Germany’s foreign-intelligence agency in December cautioned that in its efforts to strengthen its regional influence, Saudi Arabia’s role was potentially destabilizing. It singled out Prince Mohammed and the king.
Underlining Saudi Arabia’s leadership ambitions, the deputy crown prince has assembled an antiterrorism coalition of more than 30 Muslim nations, an alliance announced in December that for now remains fairly loose.
More than in his official roles, however, the prince’s greatest power arguably rests in the special relationship he has with his father.
“The world is obviously struck by the extraordinary responsibilities he has been given as minister of defense, and as head of the economic council,” said Robert Lacey, a British historian who wrote a book on the Saudi monarchy. “That’s really extraordinary and unprecedented. But it’s really nothing compared to the power he has as the gatekeeper of his father.” http://www.wsj.com/articles/influential-saudi-prince-wields-new-power-at-kings-side-1461108426