Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who will turn 90 this summer, has quietly placed his own sons in positions of power and influence in the kingdom. His sons have increasing authority in the Foreign Ministry, National Guard and two key governorships and are well-placed to play long-term roles as power passes to the next generation of the royal family.
The king is like all of his predecessors in seeking to place his own progeny in positions of importance. That is, after all, how monarchies work. The Arab Spring, the wave of unrest that has swept the Arab world since early 2011, seems to have encouraged the king to put his own sons forward to help the kingdom cope with the unprecedented challenges it has faced in the last three years.
Abdullah’s third son, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah, 51, is the kingdom's deputy foreign minister. He was appointed to the job in July 2011 after a long career in the Saudi National Guard and as an adviser to the king. Educated in the United Kingdom, Abdulaziz is the understudy to the kingdom’s long-time Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, the son of King Faisal. Saud has long suffered from poor health but has stayed in office to provide the kingdom with the benefit of his expertise and years of experience. Abdulaziz is likely to be his successor as foreign minister when the day comes that Saud steps down.
King Abdullah promoted his second son, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, 62, last year to be the first ever National Guard minister, elevating command of the kingdom’s elite security force to the ministry level and placing his son in the cabinet. Often a key spokesman for this father’s views on regional and security issues, Mutaib is an up and coming important player in the kingdom. The Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) was commanded by Abdullah from 1962 until 2010. In the course of his half century in command, Abdullah lavished on it the best weapons and equipment money could buy and turned it into the strongest military force in the country, larger and better led than the regular army. Over 100,000 strong and equipped with armored vehicles and helicopters, the SANG has been trained by American advisers since 1975.
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