I Newspaper: The Saudi crown prince is underestimating again

I newspaper published an article by Patrick Coburn entitled “The Saudi crown prince falls in a disastrous miscalculation again”, in which the writer considered that “the battle for securing the Saudi throne is burning, even if overshadowed by the news of the epidemic of the new Corona virus, this pandemic that may change the political scene threatens Donald Trump’s authority and consequently his allies like the Saudi crown prince, Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

The writer says that the Corona virus “has created a state of fear, similar to that caused by a dangerous war.

Everyone is now on the front line, and they are all potential victims.”

He goes on to say that the political consequences of the Corona epidemic are “truly enormous, and despite the global media’s preoccupation with its news and dangers, political events have certainly not stopped, and major crises persist, even if they are ignored by preoccupation with the survival struggle with the virus.

Many of these major crises are occurring in the Middle East.

It is the traditional battleground of great powers, but its local agents are fighting it on their behalf”.

At the top of the list of conflicts overwhelmed by news of the epidemic, as the article says, “The Battle of the Throne in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, whom some describe as mercury, carried out this month a small coup, and arrested his uncle Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, And his cousin, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, who was removed from his post as crown prince in 2017”.

The author believes that bin Salman is trying to pave the way for a smooth arrival to the throne in the event of the death of his father, King Salman, and this need has become more urgent in the past few weeks because of what the American presidential elections in November might bear, which the crown prince may lose as a result: For him: Donald Trump, whose credibility is declining steadily, says the author because of his “poor decisions in dealing with the spread of the Coronavirus, which means that the prospect of his opponent Joe Biden as a potential Democratic presidential candidate has grown.”

The writer recalls that “Trump is a vital supporter of the young Saudi prince despite all his mistakes, starting with his role in the Yemen war, and his possible involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which he persistently denied.”

“The crown prince has a long record of miscalculation, from the endless catastrophic war in Yemen to the escalation of the confrontation with Iran, which culminated in Tehran’s drone attack on Saudi oil facilities last September”, the article continued.

As for the “latest gamble” by the Saudi crown prince, as the author says, it is “breaking with Russia and flooding the market with Saudi crude oil, at a time when global demand is witnessing a severe decline due to the economic impact of the Corona pandemic.”

“In the living memory of the Middle East, no one but Saddam Hussein carried out a similar behavior that combines arrogance and imputable behavior, which led to catastrophic decisions such as the war with Iran in the 1980s and the 1990 invasion of Kuwait”, the author added.

The writer explains his opinion, “When it comes to the oil price war, Russia’s financial reserves are high, and Russia’s dependence on imports is today less than five years ago.

The result will be instability for all oil-exporting countries in the Middle East, and Iraq, for example, is a major model, especially because of its complex dependence on oil revenues, as well as Iran, which faces the largest outbreak of the virus, in addition to its suffering due to US sanctions.

And at the appropriate time, says Coburn, “The Russians will tighten their grip on the region, and they are now reaping good results in Syria.”

At the end of his article, the author says, “It seems that the Corona epidemic is already changing the political calculations in the Middle East and the rest of the world: Trump’s second term appears to be less likely today than it was in February.

Although Biden’s victory may not change things much for the better, but it is It will return things to a fairly normal level”.