Gulf-based expert and analyst Theodore Karasik discussed the political transition in Saudi Arabia following the death of King Abdullah and the transition to King Salman last week with SUSTG and SUSRIS in an exclusive #FocusKSA interview.
Karasik noted that the transition “went very smoothly,” and added, “I think what caught all of us by surprise was really how quickly King Salman restructured the government of Saudi Arabia in order to bring about a better future for the Kingdom.”
“I don’t think Saudi Arabia has fifteen years to spare in terms of this generational change…So I’m optimistic that with the government reforms that the young leaders of Saudi Arabia will be able to start making plans now for the transition that Saudi Arabia will have to go through from 2015 to 2025,” Karasik said.
Mohammed bin Salman was a figure “who we have to watch very carefully because here is a thirty-four year old prince. He’s the son of a King. A lot of us knew about him, knew that he was behind his father, but when he was appointed to become the head of MOD [Ministry of Defense] it took many of us by surprise that he would rise so quickly,” Karasik said.
“We saw the Ministry of Higher Education merge with the Ministry of Education, and these – now you have a Ministry of Education, a super ministry if you will, that is going to have an immediate task in front of it, and we’ve already seen this in the Saudi press that the Ministry will be devising new ways to make sure that the youth of Saudi Arabia are being instructed appropriately in terms of knowledge transfer and knowledge management, as well as the creation of future leaders and that there are jobs for these graduates in the Kingdom. They must also make sure that graduates stay in the Kingdom to avoid a Saudi brain drain, which seem to have been occurring under the former king with students going aboard to study and staying outside the Kingdom.”
“Overall, I think that these are positive developments.”
