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Blood and Oil
Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power | Bradley Hope, Justin Scheck
4 posts | 3 read | 10 to read
**Longlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award** From award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters Justin Scheck and Bradley Hope (coauthor of Billion Dollar Whale), this revelatory look at the world's most powerful ruling family reveals how a rift within Saudi Arabian royalty produced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a charismatic leader with a ruthless streak. Thirty-five-year-old Mohammed bin Salman's sudden rise stunned the world. Political and business leaders such as former UK prime minister Tony Blair and WME chairman Ari Emanuel flew out to meet with the crown prince and came away convinced that his desire to reform the kingdom was sincere. He spoke passionately about bringing women into the workforce and toning down Saudi Arabia's restrictive Islamic law. He lifted the ban on women driving and explored investments in Silicon Valley. But MBS began to betray an erratic interior beneath the polish laid on by scores of consultants and public relations experts like McKinsey & Company. The allegations of his extreme brutality and excess began to slip out, including that he ordered the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While stamping out dissent by holding three hundred people, including prominent members of the Saudi royal family, in the Ritz-Carlton hotel and elsewhere for months, he continued to exhibit his extreme wealth, including buying a $70 million chateau in Europe and one of the world's most expensive yachts. It seemed that he did not understand nor care about how the outside world would react to his displays of autocratic muscle-what mattered was the flex. Blood and Oil is a gripping work of investigative journalism about one of the world's most decisive and dangerous new leaders. Hope and Scheck show how MBS's precipitous rise coincided with the fraying of the simple bargain that had been at the head of U.S.-Saudi relations for more than eighty years: oil in exchange for military protection. Caught in his net are well-known US bankers, Hollywood figures, and politicians, all eager to help the charming and crafty crown prince. The Middle East is already a volatile region. Add to the mix an ambitious prince with extraordinary powers, hunger for lucre, a tight relationship with the White House through President Trump's son in law Jared Kushner, and an apparent willingness to break anything -- and anyone -- that gets in the way of his vision, and the stakes of his rise are bracing. If his bid fails, Saudi Arabia has the potential to become an unstable failed state and a magnet for Islamic extremists. And if his bid to transform his country succeeds, even in part, it will have reverberations around the world.
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Yahui07
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Pickpick

Always like books bringing knowledge to me which makes me feel time well spent. This is one of this kind of books. I am able to learn a little history, political events and developments of the Saudi Arabia and the world from this book.
One flaw in my view is that the writing style is a bit flat sometimes.

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Megabooks
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I feel like we‘re somewhat insulated from international news in the US, so it was extremely enlightening to read an entire book on Mohammed bin Salman‘s ruthless rise to power. He typifies the unstable authoritarian leaders that have come to power around the world right now. I mean he kidnapped the Prime Minister of Lebanon & tortured him and ordered the journalist killed in Turkey. All while saying he‘s bringing major economic and social reforms.

Cinfhen Oh, this does sound fascinating!! I‘m quickly learning that Saudi Arabia seems to be a country FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS 😜 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen it is! Definitely a very unique country. The contradictions in this book of prosperity and ruthless oppression were crazy! 4y
Cinfhen Even the women/ the way they dress, shop and spend and what‘s going on behind the veil and under the abaya 4y
Cinfhen I was also reading about all the various crown princes and how some have terrible drug and alcohol addictions even though those items are not permitted in the kingdom 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen yes, there‘s a reason the Saudi‘s own Harrods! Very hypocritical these Saudi princes. They force the rank and file to follow Wahhabism while they‘re playboys. Also Saudi Arabia has a huge obesity problem. Like top three countries in the world. 4y
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Megabooks
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I‘m without internet today, but I still have books!! (There‘s an outage in town for everyone with this provider.) I started this audiobook that I downloaded yesterday. While I infrequently read books about US politics (too frustrating!), I still find books on international politics interesting.

And I loved Billion Dollar Whale last summer.

BarbaraBB This one sounds fascinating 4y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I‘m reading 2 other books, too, so I‘m only a few hours in, but it is really interesting. I had heard of MBS and some of his more outrageous power grabs, but I‘m learning so much more. American news is so focused on the US, you really have to try to get international info. I usually read the BBC website for international, but not as often as I should. (edited) 4y
Reviewsbylola I try to stay far away from politics for my own mental well being. 4y
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Megabooks @Reviewsbylola I can‘t read American politics at all! 4y
Reviewsbylola Same. I literally cannot. My family and husband are constantly listening to podcasts and watching on TV. I refuse. It absolutely brings me no joy so I‘d rather focus on things I can control. 4y
Megabooks @Reviewsbylola yes! My parents gave me the newspaper‘s local election guide because mayor, city council, school board... are up this year, and they‘re all nonpartisan, so unless you read about them, you have no clue. But I already knew who I was voting for nationally, and I don‘t see the point in rehashing it a million times. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 4y
Reviewsbylola Yup, I‘ll follow local politics leading up to the election and tend to get pretty invested in school board, city council, etc. That‘s it though. 4y
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