, Columnist
Can Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Fix His Mistakes?
The post-coronavirus era will require learning some painful recent lessons.
Vision interruptus.
Photographer: Tasneem Alsultan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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His hand over his heart — a gesture as common to the Middle East’s princes as to its paupers — Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman might admit that he bears at least as much responsibility as the coronavirus pandemic for the state of Saudi Arabia’s economy. It is, after all, the combination of his ill-timed oil war against Russia with the Covid-19 crisis that has left the kingdom facing the steepest contraction in a generation.
Although relatively few Saudis have contracted the virus, the substantial economic damage will likely force the crown prince to make deep cuts to his “Vision 2030” plan.