Crown Prince prepares to leave for US

As Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, prepares to embark on a historic visit to the US where he is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the US media has been all praise for the reforms taking place in the Kingdom.

“It’s a potentially historic moment that the president should seize,” writes John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, in Foreign Policy magazine.

Saudi Arabia is perhaps the world’s most influential Islamic state, he says.

“What’s consistently been missing from America’s strategy have been powerful partners in the Muslim world who can reliably be counted on to speak out authoritatively on matters of Islamic theology in ways that the United States simply can’t. That’s where Saudi Arabia comes in. It’s the birthplace of Islam and host to the faith’s two holiest mosques. Combined with abundant oil wealth, these assets bestow on the Saudis a measure of soft power influence unrivaled in the Muslim world.”

The Crown Prince and his closest advisers have relentlessly hammered the theme that Saudi Arabia’s modernization requires an embrace of “moderate Islam.”

The Crown Prince has slammed the extremist ideology.

Hannah says that the Crown Prince’s reforms initiatives are not just talks.

“On the all-important issue of female empowerment, the pace of change has been breathtaking. Women can now open businesses without the approval of a male guardian.

“They’re being allowed to enter the military for the first time and attend sporting and cultural events. This summer, the ban on women driving will disappear.”

The Crown Prince’s domestic reforms go hand in hand with his head-on fight against extremism, writes Ali Shihabi, the executive director of the Arabia Foundation, in a commentary in Fox News.

The Crown Prince has publicly, loudly and unequivocally denounced extremism, he adds.

Shihabi said: “The key factor to look at is that for the first time in 40 years, a bold leader has emerged in Saudi Arabia.”

“MBS has performed bold economic surgery by reducing state subsidies, privatizing key state assets and introducing direct payments to help the poor. And he has struck a heavy blow to the system of elite privileges,” he writes.

“The Brookings, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC., highlighted the 75 years of US-Saudi ties.

In an interview to CBS This Morning co-host Norah O’Donnell, the Crown Prince said that Saudi Arabia “is the oldest ally to the US in the Middle East before any other country.”

“Saudi-American relations are historic going back nearly 80 years,” he said.

Foreign Policy magazine said that there will be no shortage of urgent issues to discuss — from the Crown Prince’s ambitious modernization agenda to joint efforts against Iranian aggression.