Saudi Arabia looks forward with trepidation to life in a brave new world fashioned by MBS

The year ends with Saudi Arabia in a state of flux – its politics, society and economics all in the process of being radically remoulded by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), the 32-year-ol son of King Salman Bin Abdelaziz who has emerged as a visionary and apparently allpowerful moderniser and autocrat. With regional relations, dynastic politics, culture, religion and economic structures in play, it may not be overly dramatic to talk of a revolutionary situation – in which, so far, the body politic has held together, with few outward signs of sustained popular opposition to the heady programme of change.