Who Is Mohammed bin Salman and Could Yemen Cost Him the Throne? Interview with F. Gregory Gause III

It's unprecedented change in the modern history of Saudi Arabia. I've seen things on my visits to Riyadh since 2015 that I never thought I'd see. >> If a thousand Yemenis get killed tomorrow, it might not even make the news. But two more attacks such as the one on Riyadh airport, which led to the

deaths of 17 people, and you can kiss goodbye to Davos in the desert. >> Yes. >> You can kiss goodbye to the Saudi Grand Prix. You can kiss goodbye to WrestleMania and the concerts and to every other initiative that is meant to project a new open Saudi Arabia. Hello and welcome to The View. Today,

we're turning our attention to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and specifically to the story of its leader Mohammed bin Salman. Who is he? What does he stand for? And will his adventurism in Yemen end up costing him the throne? To answer these questions, I'm joined by F. Gregory Gause III. He's a professor

emeritus of international affairs at the Bush School of Government and Foreign Service and has written extensively on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Welcome to the show, Gregory. >> My pleasure to join you. >> Thanks. Uh before we get into the nitty-gritty, I'd like to ask you to share your overall impressions of Mohammed bin

Salman. What do you make of him as a leader? Is your view of him positive, negative, or mixed? >> Well, certainly mixed but uh tending to the positive. Uh lots of flaws but a capacity to change. Uh I think the most notable thing about him has been the shift the shifts I've seen in Saudi policy since he you know,

uh we'll just say came to power. Uh you know, he's he's the Crown Prince. He's the Prime Minister. His father is still king, but he's the he's the day-to-day decision-maker in Saudi Arabia. >> Who is he? I take it his rise to power wasn't entirely inevitable. Can you give us some biographical details about him?