In the three years since he emerged as a central player in Saudi Arabia’s government, Mohammed bin Salman has seemed to be a young man in a hurry.

The 32-year-old was officially named crown prince of Saudi Arabia earlier this year, but well before that, he had announced broad plans to transform both Saudi Arabia’s culture and its economy.

At a conference this week in Riyadh, the prince made headlines by calling for the Kingdom to “return to moderate Islam”.

He suggested that his country’s embrace of a particularly strict version of Islam was a reaction to Iran’s 1979 revolution.

But questions are being asked as to whether the prince will be able to push his reforms through the country’s conservative bureaucracy and religious establishment.

At the same time, he is spending $2 trillion on the “Vision 2030” plan which seeks to lessen the country’s dependence on oil revenue.

Will Mohammed bin Salman be successful in both, or even just one of these ambitious projects?

Presenter: Martine Dennis

Guests:

Abdullah al-Shayji – Professor of Political Science, Kuwait University

Yasemin Saib – Saudi activist

Jane Kinninmont – Deputy head of Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House

Source: Al Jazeera News