Saudi Arabia’s 32 year old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman embarks on his American tour this week to shine a light on Saudi Arabia to the U.S. public.
Already setting the wheels of his reign in motion, Mohammed bin Salman’s latest reforms within Saudi Arabia have been nothing short of revolutionary. After 40 years, women will, once again, be able to drive, music and cinema are also being reintroduced to the region and there has been a monumental crackdown on corruption.
Mohammed bin Salman participated in his first ever interview with an American television network and was keen to talk about Saudi Arabia’s vision to progress.
Since coming into power, the young and socially aware Crown Prince has set about rebuilding Saudi Arabian society, “out of both social and economic necessity”, according to CBS. With a large majority of the KSA’s citizens being under the age of 35 and connected to the rest of the globe via the internet and their smart-phones, himself and his generation alike, are restless and ready for changes – starting with making Islam in the region, a more moderate one, just like its neighbouring countries, including the UAE, as well as women’s rights, “we were living a very normal life like the rest of the Gulf countries. Women were driving cars. There were movie theaters in Saudi Arabia. Women worked everywhere. We were just normal people developing like any other country,” he stated.
Saudi women, have now, 40 years on, been given new rights, making it easier for them to start a business, join the military, and attend concerts and sporting events. In June, they will finally be able to drive a car.
CBS probed further and wanted to know more about the prince’s approach to gender equality; he was asked, “Are women equal to men?” and his response was, “Absolutely. We are all human beings and there is no difference.”
Just last year, he appointed his cousin, Princess Reema bint Bandar, to lead one of the government’s sports authorities.
The general perception, across the world, of the Kingdom as a place with harsh Islamic laws impacted the youth of the country, recalled the crown prince, “After 1979, that's true. We were victims, especially my generation that suffered from this a great deal…We have extremists who forbid mixing between the two sexes and are unable to differentiate between a man and a woman alone together and their being together in a workplace. Many of those ideas contradict the way of life during the time of the Prophet and the Caliphs. This is the real example and the true model," he said.
As part of the plan, Prince Mohammed promises to eliminate any extremist elements of Islam in the kingdom, which have infiltrated Saudi society, including its schools. At present, Saudi Arabia still adheres to the power-share between the House of Saud and Wahhabi Islam and the forward-thinking prince was keen to elaborate on the topic, “Saudi schools have been invaded by many elements from the Muslim Brotherhood organization, surely to a great extent. Even now, there are some elements left. It will be a short while until they are all eradicated completely,” he said, adding “no country in the world would accept that its educational system be invaded by any radical group.”
Working day and night to make his detailed plan to “remake” Saudi Arabia a reality, under Vision 2030, the prince’s objectives include a view to increase trade with other countries, strengthen the kingdom’s economy and boost working opportunities for Saudi nationals, both male and female, whilst also creating a less conservative environment through cultural and sporting events. Through this, the KSA will no longer need to rely on oil revenues.
