House of Saud’s Power Struggle Could Turn Bloody

The demographic factor

New marginal branches of the Al-Saud cult are now promoted to senior positions as they represent no real challenge. After Mitab bin Abdullah was dismissed as commander of the National Guard, a minor prince from a distant Saud branch was chosen to replace him. After all not all princes are equal.

It is the demography that allowed Salman and his son to literally walk over not only his remaining old and incapacitated brothers but also their aspiring sons. But cults are often difficult to dismember without a fuss or even bloodbaths, assassinations and intimidation.

What we are witnessing today in Saudi Arabia among royalty is the beginning of the process by which the vertical succession may need bloodshed to be established as fait accompli, thus slimming down a cult that has gone too big at times of 

If in the past money was thrown at disgruntled princes, today bin Salman wants to strip them of their cash to replenish his own coffers that are under the pressure of both population growth and decreasing oil prices.

He's got to find money somewhere if he wants to mitigate against an imminent rebellion by both disgruntled princes and impoverished Saudis, who will have to resort to traditional methods of cooling their beds by sleeping under wet sheets in the absence of affordable electricity to power their modern air-conditioning units.

Should Mohammed bin Salman continue to deploy the sword against his rivals and more importantly the disenfranchised Saudis, he is unlikely to secure his place as the visionary saviour, the new imam of moderate Islam, the economic engine of affluence in the post-oil age, and the youngest head of the Al-Saud cult.