Sihai network

More than 5000 princes of the Saudi royal family

More than 5000 princes of the Saudi royal family

4hw.org: in the summer of this year, the political situation in the Arabian Gulf turned yellow and unpredictable. There was an uncertain situation of breaking off diplomatic relations with Qatar. Today, 82 year old Saudi Arabia has made another big event. He deposed crown prince Mohammed & middot; Ben & middot; naif, and established the successor of new crown prince Mohammed & middot; Ben & middot; Salman as his successor. This is the third time he has changed the crown prince. Now the Saudi royal family members change! (this article is edited and collated by sihai.com, reprinted and noted with source, original link: http://www.4hw.com.cn/life/)

Power structure

In 1932, Saudi Arabia was founded today. As the "leading brother" of the Arab Islamic world, the political core of Saudi Arabia is the Saudi royal family. The founding king was a strong man. His wife alone married 38 (not counting lovers) and gave birth to 127 children (including 58 sons); over 80 years ago, these sons continued to reproduce, so the Saudi royal family now has more than 5000 princes. In theory, each of these princes has the possibility of succeeding to the throne - in theory, of course. In reality, not all members of the royal family enjoy equal political power and status.

If the founding monarch of Saudi Arabia wants to carry out the history of change and struggle from the founding of Saudi Arabia to the present royal family, it is definitely a power struggle blockbuster which is higher than the Qing palace opera. But according to the political arrangement of the founding king, the core logic is "brother and brother", brother becomes king, brother becomes crown prince, brother inherits after his death.

It can be seen that this is a typical method of nomadic inheritance, such as Xiongnu, Mongolia, Turkic, Xianbei and other tribes. The advantage is that the tribal leader is always an adult male, and the disadvantage is that there are too many people with inheritance rights. Once there is no threat from foreign enemies, it is easy to fall into internal turmoil and division. After all, it's going to take years before your brother dies. The current king, Salman, started politics at the age of 19, became governor at the age of 20, and then became king at the age of 79. (this article is edited and collated by sihai.com, reprinted and noted with source, original link: http://www.4hw.com.cn/life/)

At present, the power structure of the Saudi royal family can be roughly divided into two groups: one is the "seven males of sudri", or the other is the "brothers of sudri", and the other is the princes, which checks and balances the group. The so-called "sudri brothers" are the seven sons of the founding king and his beloved wife, Hassa & middot; bint & middot; Ahmed & middot; sudri. Salman, the current king of Saudi Arabia, belongs to this group.

At present, the number of 'senior princes' with the highest power is about 10 to 15. They hold important positions and control the core departments of the government. On this basis, they construct their own power groups or belong to a power group to realize the control over a certain field, such as foreign affairs, military affairs or internal affairs. Even though the king of Saudi Arabia has absolute power, the multi power group represented by the direct princes in the royal family of Saudi Arabia has always existed.

Doesn't it sound boring? It's just a background introduction. High energy came -- after so many years of rounds of the kings and Regents in front of them, the current king took the initiative. (this article is edited and collated by sihai.com, reprinted and noted with source, original link: http://www.4hw.com.cn/life/)

Within two years, he had three princes.

Change of sudri brothers

Before the death of the former king, muglin, the youngest son of the founding king, became the second crown prince. Different from the "sudri brothers", muglind's mother is of a lower status and belongs to the kind with less political background.

Then, three months after King Salman ascended the throne, he abandoned the crown prince and cut off the possibility of the different brothers. Later, he took Muhammad & middot; Ben & middot; naif, the son of his cousin, as the crown prince and the Minister of the interior, and his most valued son, Muhammad & middot; Ben & middot; Salman, as the heir to the crown prince (vice crown prince) and concurrently the head of the Ministry of defense and the king's office. At the same time, a political and Security Affairs Committee led by Mohammed bin midiot naif was established to replace the former National Security Committee led by Prince Bandar bin midiot Sultan.

In other words, the power of the royal family originally alternates between the "sudri brothers" and other branches, but in this way, the "sudri branch" of the royal family firmly holds the state power.

However, there are still hidden dangers: once sudri group establishes its monopoly position, the group is divided into different factions again, and the original Saudi inheritance disputes will continue to be staged among them; at the same time, due to the age of the current king, it is inevitable that the inheritance of the throne will be calculated by each other between a prince in his prime and a young and promising vice prince.

So, today's news. The current king not only handed over the power to the "sudri brothers", but also prepared to pass the throne to his own son, breaking the old system of "brother, brother and brother".

Two new princes Muhammad

Originally, in the battle for the throne between the crown prince and the vice crown prince of Saudi Arabia, the western countries have always favored the deposed crown prince Mohammed & middot; Ben & middot; naif.

At one time, naif had an advantage: not only was he more mature and older, but he studied in the United States in his early years. He also worked in the FBI and had close ties with the United States. During his tenure as Deputy Minister of the interior of Saudi Arabia, he has long maintained cooperation with western countries, and is a firm supporter of the US counter-terrorism policy and intelligence support in the Middle East. He is known by his Western colleagues as "Prince of counter-terrorism" and "spy expert".

What about Mohammed bin Salman, the new crown prince and the king's son, who was in his early 30s (Saudi Arabia has never published his real age, and it is inferred that he is 32). The impression of the West has always been "impulsive and aggressive" - of course, this impression is not without reason. The young prince, in his early 30s, was entrusted with the task of economic reform and national defense. At the same time, he was the largest money bag in Saudi Arabia and the chairman of Saudi Aramco's Supreme Council. He also flew to Yemen to air attack Hussein's armed forces in person. (this article is edited and collated by sihai.com, reprinted and noted with source, original link: http://www.4hw.com.cn/life/)

However, three years after he became king, the current king Salman had absolute power, and the intention of supporting his son to succeed was obvious. It was well-known in the Arab world that it was only a matter of time before Prince naif was deposed.

At this time, the biggest variable stirring the Gulf political situation appeared: Trump's accession to the White House.

Nayef

Through huge arms trade and joint planning for the pattern of the Middle East region, Saudi vice crown prince Mohammed & middot; Ben & middot; Salman and Abu Dhabi crown prince Mohammed & middot; Ben & middot; Zayed became Trump's regional allies. Remember the last time King Salman traveled in Asia for more than a month with a team of more than 500 tons of luggage, two gilded plane gangways and 1500 people? At that time, his son Mohammed was meeting trump in the United States.

We have analyzed before that, with the acquiescence of the new president of the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates jointly launched a diplomatic blockade against Qatar, which also strengthened their determination to take charge of domestic power. As you can imagine, Saudi Arabia's change of crown prince has also been approved in advance by the president of the United States.

Great change

As we have said before, this is a break to the system of "brothers, brothers and brothers", so it is absolutely a heavy news.

Since the founding of the people's Republic of China, this system has been obeyed by the Saudi royal family. The power balance system constructed by him also avoids the abuse of power and ensures the stability of the family. However, when the second generation of princes are getting old, and even when the crown prince has died in succession, it is not appropriate for them to have their brothers and their younger brothers. How to continue the effective succession system, or how to introduce the third generation of princes into the succession sequence of the throne, has become a problem that has been puzzling the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in recent years.

This change of crown prince has undoubtedly completely broken this system, which means that power has changed from parallel inheritance in the old king's direct line of living sons to vertical inheritance in the present "father to son"; it also means that article 5 of the basic royal system "the king and crown prince cannot come from the same branch of Abdu middot Aziz's descendants" (power balance) and will eventually be changed. (this article is edited and collated by sihai.com, reprinted and noted with source, original link: http://www.4hw.com.cn/life/)

At the same time, the order of the eldest and the youngest in the Royal inheritance system has also been subverted. The current crown prince is not only the grandson of the founding monarch, but also one of the youngest members of the grandson. If King Salman's accession to the throne in 2015 means the power monopoly of sudri group in the royal family, then now that his son becomes crown prince, it means that Saudi Arabia's throne will continue within the Salman family from now on.

So, how will this change affect the regional situation?

It's a big impact. It is no exaggeration to say that the birth of the new crown prince will not only change the face of Saudi domestic politics, but also the face of the whole Middle East region. Since becoming Vice crown prince and defense minister, he has shown amazing ambition. From the "vision 2030" of reforming Saudi Arabia's economic structure to the "decisive storm" of the largest military operation in Saudi Arabia's history in Yemen, the young prince is undoubtedly ready to open a new regional policy for the kingdom. (this article is edited and collated by sihai.com, reprinted and noted with source, original link: http://www.4hw.com.cn/life/)

First of all, marked by the recent severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar, the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have shouldered the banner of opposition to the Arab spring, with the focus on the political Islamic forces rising after the regional turmoil in 2011. Secondly, in order to cooperate with the Middle East policy of the U.S. trump regime, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will speed up the normalization of relations with Israel and completely resolve the Palestinian issue. Different from the revolutionary trend of radical opposition to the United States and Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will put forward a positive interpretation of Islamic thought and actively integrate it into the regional order dominated by the United States.

Or it can be predicted that with the change of Saudi power pattern, the Saudi Arabia UAE axis in the Arabian Gulf region is gradually forming. Under their joint efforts, Yemen may end the war under the rule of partition, Libya will return to the control of Gaddafi's old Department, and the conflict between the United States and its Arab allies and Iran may be further intensified