bin Salman isn't waiting for his

turn at the throne to take his country

in a radically different direction.

The 32 year old prince is distancing

himself from hardline Islam

progressing women's rights

and looking past oil for income.

But not since the reign of the country's founder

has this much power been in one man's

hands.

Here's a man who identifies

himself as the leader of this country.

Even though his father still remains king

this is the story of a Saudi millennial

whose progressive yet autocratic tendencies

are sending shock waves through the entire

region.

Mohammad bin Salman also known as

MBS hasn't always been in

line for the Saudi throne.

For decades the throne has been passed

from elderly brother to a slightly less

elderly brother.

All sons of the founder of Saudi Arabia.

But MBS is set to buck

that trend.

His relationship

with his father has put him in a position

that has allowed him to leapfrog

other members of his immediate

family because of the trust of his father

seemingly has in him

that close bond was years in the

making.

Unlike his brothers the prince was educated

in Saudi Arabia.

He was by his father's side

through most of most of his childhood

and so he understands how

the royal family works.

From an insider's playbook

a few years after graduating from King

Saud University the prince went to

work for his father then the governor

of Riyadh in 2011.

His father was named defense minister.

But MBS was initially barred from entering

the ministry because of rumors that he was

disruptive and power hungry.

Gradually the prince worked his way back

into the then kings good graces

and he was assigned to Ministry of Defence

where he brought in western consulting firms

to streamline bureaucratic inefficiencies.

In 2015 his father became

king and gave his favorite son unprecedented

control over the majority of government.

The Prince became known as Mr.

Everything.

Finally in the summer of 2017

the king named him crown prince

the first in line bypassing his

uncle one of many older

and more experienced statesmen.

He would describe himself as

the first Saudi

leader of this stature

raised in the Internet

age

and as someone who grew

up playing video games.

Peter Waldman writes about the Middle East

interviewed the prince for Businessweek

he compares himself to the

Silicon Valley entrepreneurs

and says I'm going to take my state

in a kind of visionary

direction.

In 2016 the prince launched

Vision 2030 his plan

to transform Saudi Arabia by

weaning the nation off of oil

and liberalizing society.

He's lifted the prohibition on women

driving. He's introduced public

entertainment such as concerts

and he's allowed cinemas to

open.

The prince also plans to fulfill what

he calls different dreams

for a post carbon future

a major piece of that plan is to sell

shares in a state owned oil company

Saudi Aramco which could create

the biggest IPO in history.

The reaction to the Aramco IPO

has been one

of them

and I think a bit of shock depending on where you're

looking at it.

For years the kingdom has relied on petroleum

for 90 percent of the state budget.

Almost all of its export earnings

and more than half of its gross domestic

product.

They brought in huge oil revenues

and spent it for their own

survival as a royal

family in terms of subsidising

lifestyles among Saudis

so they wouldn't push back

against this very autocratic

family.

The collapse of oil prices from one hundred forty

dollars a barrel to the 30s in 2016

caused the IMF to declare that the country

would be bankrupt by 2020 if

it carried on spending as much as it does.

What this 32 year old prince

has said very clearly is

we can no longer rely on oil

to fund our lifestyles.

We have to begin to contribute

on a personal level to work

to be entrepreneurial to find

investments to find businesses

like a normal state.

The crown prince introduced taxes

slashed handouts

and is trying to make Saudis actually

pay for the energy they consume.

The prince also heads an anti-corruption

commission and in the fall of 2017

he carried out an unprecedented purge

of the Saudi elite arresting

four ministers 11 princes

and countless businessmen.

Most were freed after returning what were

alleged to be ill gotten gains

by taking on his cousins in

the royal family.

He's sending a signal that

he is dead serious about

changing the Saudi system.

However it has not apply to himself

thus far

and I think his own personal

excesses undermine

the signal he's trying to send.

While his approach may seem unforgiving

Mbius is shaping the Middle East

in ways no one could really have ever

imagined

and being so young he's likely to

hold power for over a half century

meaning there will be continuity of government

but without the checks

and balances needed to prevent a dictatorship.

Saudi Arabia is a police state

from top to bottom

and it will continue to be for

the foreseeable future.