Simon Henderson is the Baker Senior Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute, specializing in energy matters and the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Articles & Testimony
The fate of the fabulously wealthy but politically marginalized prince has become much more significant amid the kingdom's campaign to fight corruption and open up its economy.
Whereas other incarcerated princes who have made deals to secure their release can be sidelined into obscurity, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal cannot. The international business world, which Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to attract to achieve his Vision 2030 economic transformation of the kingdom, will be watching what happens, checking to see how complete Al-Waleed's vindication is and whether, for example, he has to give up his shareholdings in Twitter and the Four Seasons hotel chain as part of some deal. The whole anti-corruption episode introduces uncertainty rather than clarity into Saudi Arabia's attempt to modernize...
