MBS, Ben Hubbard

MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman by Ben Hubbard is a book that came recommended by the New York Times.

Started: 6/9/2020

Completed: 6/12/2020

Recommendation: Not recommended

Recommended By: The New York Times

Review:

It is odd that a book about MBS and his rise to power focuses so much on Jamal Khashoggi whose murder occurred after MBS was rather solidly in power.  It feels like a look at MBS through the lens of Khashoggi.  I don't particularly have a problem with this, but it is odd to have a book about a person (MBS) that quotes someone else (Khashoggi) more extensively.  The stuff that is quoted from Khashoggi is not even about MBS, rather it is about Khashoggi and his point of view.  All of this is very interesting, but it feels like the title of the book is wrong.

It is also odd how the author injects his visa application woes into the tale.  It seems to put the narrator in the story of MBS' rise to power, but, at the same time, the narrator has absolutely nothing to do with that rise.  Maybe this is included in an effort to point out how difficult it is to get information about MBS, but it seems like if that is the point, then maybe don't write a book about MBS.  I don't know.

Similarly the digression and emphasis on women driving seems to go nowhere.  It is an interesting detail, but it is not a subplot.  It feels like the author thought this would go someplace, he followed it, but it really never went anywhere.  It is unclear whether women driving has made a huge difference for good or ill in Saudi Arabia.  One hopes that it is an improvement (clearly the author does), but the author does not make his case.

The author seems to have anticipated that either MBS would be deposed as the crown prince or MBS' father would have died propelling MBS into the kingship.  Neither happened and so it seems the author is awash in "I don't know."  In hindsight, I realize that this is a history written by a journalist.  Journalism, and particularly political journalism, is truly a thing of the moment.  Ben Hubbard saw the moment as the death of Khashoggi, but it appears he was wrong.  This was neither MBS' downfall, nor the obstacle over which he climbed to rise to power.

The afterword amounts to speculation and calls for revision once current events have actually become history.  This is an interesting book, but it is a book of the moment.  There is still too much to happen in order to climb to explain how MBS rose to power.

Under another title (like, "The Impact of the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi" or "Khashoggi and MBS;  Lives Intertwined") this book might have more value, but I think that the author (or editor) just overreached.