Blood and Oil

September 7, 2020
Wall Street Journal investigative reporters Hope (coauthor, Billion Dollar Whale) and Scheck take a comprehensive and alarming look at Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, popularly known as MBS, who has combined efforts to modernize his country with repressive tactics and alleged murder. The seventh son of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, MBS was appointed defense minister when his father took the throne in 2015, and began consolidating control over much of the government. His innovations, including expanded rights for women and the country’s first movie theater, caught the attention of Western politicians and investors, but some bigger projects, including Neom, a city intended to feature flying cars, have failed to get off the ground. In 2017, MBS launched a series of high-profile arrests that were widely condemned outside Saudi Arabia, and was responsible, according to the authors, for the confinement and forced November 2017 resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (who rescinded the resignation a month later). MBS’s alleged culpability in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 has brought further outcry, though the Trump administration, the authors note, has deemed MBS too important to sever ties with. Readers who closely follow the Middle East will find much of the information familiar, but Hope and Scheck marshal their research into a page-turning narrative that persuasively casts MBS as a grave danger to the region. This detailed exposé rings true.

Starred review from October 1, 2020

Award-winning journalists Hope and Scheck present a masterful biography on Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman, commonly known as MBS. This work reveals how the prince overcame what could be perceived as impossible odds to be Saudi Arabia's strongman. For a long time, Saudi princes were known to be glamorous spenders and cared more deeply about enriching their own pockets. The authors show bin Salman bucked this trend by putting his nationality first before enrichment and crafting an image as a reformer in order to entice business to Saudi Arabia. He loosened Islamic laws to appeal to Western eyes, most notably repealing a ban on women driving. This image as an outside reformer shielded a ruthlessness that the authors do not shy away from divulging--they clearly illustrate how he crafted an inner circle of loyalists and excluded those who questioned or challenged his decision-making. The narrative continues as the prince mercilessly attacked critics on social media, imprisoning them and confiscating their money. Jamal Khashoggi's role is also detailed as he goes from MBS messenger to martyr. VERDICT This fast-paced, well-researched book is an excellent primer on current U.S.-Saudi relations and Middle Eastern dynamics, and will also draw in those interested in palace intrigue.--Jacob Sherman, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio

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Starred review from September 1, 2020
A thorough delineation of the rapacious, ambitious new economic plan for Saudi Arabia by the heir apparent to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman. Like Ben Hubbard in his recent scathing assessment, MBS, dogged Wall Street Journal reporters Hope and Scheck diligently chart the rapid rise--and recent faltering--of MBS (as he is known colloquially), though this book focuses less on biography and more on his determination to remake the Saudi economy. With the accession of his father to the Saudi Arabian throne in 2015, his seventh son was already expertly positioned at his father's side to succeed and to carry out a sweeping set of reforms. King Salman, who was the governor of Riyadh for nearly 50 years (until 2011), has been known as the enforcer and disciplinarian in the corrupt, far-flung family. Beginning in 2015, MBS served as defense minister and moved swiftly over the ensuing four years to consolidate his power by squeezing out relatives. Among many other initiatives, he waged war on Yemen; set out to enrich his family in stock trading and other ways, which his father had been loath to do; instigated a staggering economic reform for the country called Vision 2030, which he has consistently touted internationally; courted Donald Trump, "treating him like a king" during his first foreign visit; shook down the richest men in his country by holding them hostage at the Ritz-Carlton until they shelled out; moved ahead with the public listing of the state oil company, Aramco; and, most brazenly, continued to ruthlessly silence his critics--e.g., the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. The last murder nearly derailed him, as the authors point out in their meticulous, highly relevant narrative, and while the international community has grown wary of this lethal upstart, it is too early to tell if MBS will fulfill his bloody-minded vision. The cast of characters and Al Saud family tree are especially helpful. An excellent work of impressive research on a dangerous world leader.

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Starred review from August 1, 2020
Wall Street Journal reporters Scheck and Hope (Billion Dollar Whale, 2018) investigated the dramatic rise of Mohammed bin Salman, documenting the Saudi crown prince's disruptive ambitions, utter ruthlessness, and luck in seizing power at a time when authoritarians are ascendant and the prevailing global order tilts into disarray. Complex and impetuous, bin Salman?known as MBS to critics and admirers alike?was low in the royal pecking order but eager to increase (not just spend) his inherited wealth. Fascinated by international business practices, MBS implemented key performance indicator metrics in the state-affiliated companies he controlled. Shrewd in leveraging social media, he tantalized young Saudis with advocacy for social reform. But the internet provided new means for rooting out dissent, and reform provided political cover to clear the field of rivals. The brutal killing of columnist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi will stain MBS's reputation for years to come. Unlike other recent reporting focusing on MBS's enigmatic personality, Scheck and Hope follow the money, emphasizing the crucial role that billion-dollar development projects, investment funds, and public stock offerings played in securing MBS's legitimacy among international elites and the chaotic and highly transactional Trump administration. The authors also caution that MBS, just turning 35, remains a work in progress.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)