- Sep 26
- 3 min read

MBS: The Crown Prince of Controversy

By Michael Im Sept. 25, 2024

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia has been accused by a former Saudi official of forging the signature of his father, King Salman, in 2015 to authorize intervention in the Yemeni Civil War. This comes as the latest in a series of allegations of fraud and human rights abuses leveled against the Prince, who has risen to become the de facto leader of the kingdom.

The signature forgery allegations were first brought to light by the BBC in an interview published Aug. 19, with Saad al-Jabri, a former Saudi major general and intelligence officer who now lives in exile. He alleged that MBS used his forgery to forgo the planned aerial bombardment of Yemen, and instead launch his preferred ground invasion, kicking off a now decade-long war between the government of

Yemen supported by the Saudis and the Houthi rebels supported by Iran.

The Saudi intervention in the Yemeni Civil War has been fraught with accusations of human rights violations and war crimes, and has led to the death of an estimated 150,000 along with putting millions of other Yemenis at risk of starvation, causing what the BBC has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

MBS rose to prominence in the Saudi government during the war, being appointed minister of defense just months before the war began. He soon amassed greater power, taking on the roles of deputy crown prince, second deputy prime minister, president of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and finally crown prince, leaving him in command of the military and the economy, and only a single step from the throne.

Using his newfound influence, MBS then announced Vision 2030, a radical economic proposal intended to shift the Saudi economy away from its reliance on oil, increase the number of women in the workforce and help create new jobs for the youth. However, his rise to power was brutal, as many of his political opponents, from princes to business elites, women’s rights activists, religious leaders and other critics were imprisoned, or like journalist Jamal Kashoggi, outright killed.

“He needs to do better on human rights, but also continue his progressive reforms. As long as it is economically viable, he should also continue his Vision 2030 proposals. The Saudis are already rich with oil money, so even if they continue to fund some of their more crazy projects, they might succeed in diversifying their economy,” Senior Shota Yu said.

After King Salman stepped down from an active political role in 2019, MBS took near total control over the Saudi state. He has pushed for certain progressive reforms, like enabling women drivers and reducing the role of Islam in the Saudi government. Still, his regime remains as repressive as always towards dissidents, who have been executed for crimes as trivial as social media critisism against the government, like Muhammed al Ghamdi was in 2023.

“His regime does not care about the negative publicity because they just use their oil money to avoid all consequences for their human rights abuses. Despite their historical dependence on oil, their move away from it will eventually be successful, although I doubt the same can be said for some of their other projects, like NEOM,” Junior Maxim Kerns said.

NEOM is a proposed planned city in northwestern Saudi Arabia, born out of the Vision 2030 economic initiative. Its most eye-catching feature is its width of 600 feet, centered on a single 110 mile long line, similar to 1800s urban planning proposals that have never been realized on NEOM’s scale. Saudi officials have promised the city will house nine million residents, and be powered solely by renewable energy. However, it is predicted to be devastating to the local environment and natives have been expelled from the area, but the Saudi government has not stopped construction. Whether MBS’s legacy will be defined by his visionary plans and progressive reforms, or his purges and human rights abuse, remains to be seen.

About the Contributors

Michael Im

staff writer

Michael Im is a Junior at Leland High School and this is his first year as a Staff Writer at journalism. He likes to learn about random topics, play with his dogs, and sleep.