Saudi Arabia's revolutionary vanguard
Deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is the face of the new Saudi Arabia. But who else is running the kingdom?
ADVERTISING boards and the walls of shops and restaurants of Riyadh display posters showing three men: King Salman, Mohammed bin Nayef and Mohammed bin Salman. One is king, the second his nephew and the third is the young man of the day, the king’s favourite son. And while the three are pictured together, all the talk in the kingdom is about just him: deputy crown prince Mohammed, second in line to the throne, often referred to as “MbS” to distinguish him from his older cousin and crown prince “MbN”. In particular, the gossip is about Saudi Vision 2030, the highly ambitious scheme unveiled by MbS to end the kingdom’s reliance on oil and introduce a vast array of economic and social reforms.
Also in this section
19 January 2026
Newfound optimism is emerging that a dormant exploration frontier could become a strategic energy play and—whisper it quietly—Europe’s next offshore opportunity
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
