King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud's unprecedented changes in the Saudi line of succession that benefit his son is raising questions about what might come next in the royal family. A traditional and conservative institution, the House of Saud has seen more personnel changes in the last 100 days than at any previous time. These shifts come as Salman pursues the most assertive foreign policy in recent Saudi history, projecting military power as no king has tried since the 1930s.

Without warning, Salman removed the sitting crown prince, Muqrin, his half brother, and promoted the third in line, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, his nephew, to No. 2. Salman made his own son, Mohammed bin Salman, the new No. 3 despite a lack of experience as a senior policymaker. Muqrin has since publicly proclaimed his allegiance to the new team, but without providing any explanation for his removal.

The king also replaced the ailing foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, with a non-royal, Adel al-Jubeir, the serving ambassador to Washington. Prince Saud, foreign minister since 1975, wanted out. Jubeir has been the public spokesman in the United States for the Yemeni intervention. His expertise is his knowledge of how US politics and Washington's bureaucracy work.

Among the other changes Salman made April 29 was the ouster of the only woman to ever hold a sub-cabinet position. Deputy Education Minister for Girls Nura al-Fayez had been appointed by King Abdullah in 2009. She advocated girls physical education, which Wahhabi zealots strongly opposed. Salman also gave the entire military and security forces a bonus of one-month's pay, their second since he ascended the throne in January. He approved a restructuring of the oil industry May 1, separating the Oil Ministry from ARAMCO, the state-owned oil company. Mohammed bin Salman proposed the change, which comes amid low oil prices, an increasingly expensive war and huge bonuses.