Pod Save the World - Saudi Arabia’s Despotic Ruler: World Corrupt Season 2, Episode 2

Episode Date: March 23, 2024

Roger Bennett and Tommy Vietor take a look at the history of Saudi Arabia, US-Saudi relations, and the Kingdom’s path to becoming a geopolitical force. They trace the unlikely rise of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman from a lowly place in the royal hierarchy to de facto leader of the country, and examine his record of enacting major social reforms while brutally cracking down on critics and rivals. Guests Ben Hubbard, Sarah Leah Whitson, and Khalid Al Jabri provide insight through stories about the infamous lock-up at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the disappearance of even the family members of MBS’ political rivals. And finally, they unpack what MBS’ massive investment into soccer means for the global game. Listen to the second episode of this four-part series to find out.

This episode of World Corrupt is brought to you by Zbiotics, pre-alcohol probiotics. Your first drink for a better tomorrow. We remember Jamal Khashoggi. On October 2nd, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and never left. But America's Department of National Intelligence concluded the operation had the personal approval of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Well, if it's spot washing going to increase my jibibia, I'm going to 1%. and then we'll continue doing sport washing. Why do tech leaders? What are political leaders?

What do they all come back to Saudi Arabia? MBS is becoming ubiquitous. It doesn't stop at sports. They were kidnapped from our home in Riyadh and disappeared and nobody has seen them since then. He took it as an affront or an assault that Jamal Khashovji would be speaking freely and independently and critically about the country.

That's why he killed. Welcome back to World Corrupt Season 2. This is episode 2. That second track on that always difficult second album. Hope it goes better for us than it did for the strokes. Let's say him, hi, Tommy. Pray we at least hit the heady heights of Weezer Pinkerton levels. I don't know, Roger.

I think a hoody and the blowfish might be more apt comparison. Tommy Fee, I do like to think of you. It's a chair not unlike Darius Rucker, always taking the escape route and just reinventing himself as a country singer. It's no one. I only want to be with you. Sorry, I can't sing for shit. I was going to say,

I was going to say, Nor can Darius Rucker. But then I got completely overwhelmed by fear of just an army, a legion of Darius Rucker fans, you know, the Rucker Hive, just coming and attack of this.

I'm not going to make that joke. Rucker fuckers? Uh, yeah. Come on. Also, Darius Rucker Hive, we didn't just say that. But seriously, if hosting podcasts

about the intersection of sports and geopolitics doesn't work out, it does seem like that could be the next logical step here. God, by the way, pissing off. the Darius Rucker Legion

it's a dangerous game but I have no doubt that you Tommy Vito will maybe one day be hosting the Darius Rucker into collegiate golf tournament before you know it there could be worse alternate realities and before we go

far too far down the old Rucker Wormhole yes that's a real place let's tell the people while we're here honestly before we came in I googled this and I did came away with more questions and answers about why Darius Rucker is hosting a golf tournament regardless.

Because it's America. This series is about Saudi Arabia's investment in soccer and why they are dumping billions and billions of dollars into the global game, why they're doing it, what they hope to get in return, and what it means for the future of soccer and, you know, the rest of the world. Yeah, I think Darius Ruckers into collegiate golf tournament

is the one thing that's worse for golf than live sports. I'm sorry, Darius Rekker fans, I didn't just say that. Honestly, Swiller, like we're all left anyway. way. A kid, I kid, we're not. We kind of are, but we're not for the purposes of this show, Tommy. Let's still hold on to hope. And we should say if you didn't listen to our first episode in the series, the one that was on Saudi Arabia is quite astonishing, sudden, surging investment across the world of football. It'd be great if you did, say. It will certainly help this episode make a lot more sense to you.

But I've had the wreck a wormhole. What doesn't make sense about this? We are going to take a look back at how Saudi Arabia got to this place of enormous influence in the world because on paper, Saudi Arabia is not an obvious geopolitical juggernaut. A bit like Belgium in football, because on a map, you stay with me here, Tommy, Belgium looks a bit like, oh, Francis, sad little hat, but then they take the field and they crush you with that awful mention sad little chappo. Just like Belgium. Let's just run with that.

Now, Saudi Arabia didn't even officially become a country until 1932, about 100 years after Belgium, by the way. And historically, Saudi Arabia has been one of the most. most closed off, conservative, and religious countries in the world. But something big happened in 1938 that changed Saudi Arabia's future forever. You know, when you do these sudden serious bouts of historical facting, you just always remind me of Alice Cooper in Wayne's world, Tommy. I think one of the most interesting aspects of Milwaukee is the fact that it's the only

major American city to have ever elected three socialist mayors. Does this guy know how to party or what? And I've got to say, I'm not usually a fan of big geopolitical developments in the late 1930s, but very perceived. So that is when Saudi Arabia discovered oil. And Raj, it turns out that massive oil reserves can buy you a soccer club and a gilded seat at the geopolitical table. And not just any table.

If this was, you know, a John Hughes movie, we'd be talking letterman jackets, feathered bangs, and also this, a ubiquitous supply of oil. And if this was a today high school, we'd be talking TikTok stardom, Fortnite high scores and a shitload of natural gas. Now, that's a technical term, Raj. I've got one of the three. It means enough gas to get your calls returned by the President of the United States. You follow me here?

Yeah, the only thing I've learned so far is that you, Tommy, might not know what the phrase technical term actually means. But the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia has been a key element to the kingdom's global influence. In 1945, President Roosevelt, in Kig Abdul-Aub-Ziz bin-Saud, met on a massive Navy ship called the USS Quincy as it was anchored in the Suez Canal. It was there that they hammered out a deal

to secure the U.S. access to Saudi oil in exchange for a security guarantee from Uncle Sam. Conclusion to the historic Yalta Conference as a plane carries President Roosevelt to Egypt to solidify ties in the Middle East. Then representing Saudi Arabia comes King Ibn South and a destroyer put at his disposal

The first U.S. vessel of its kind to pass through the Suez Canal during this war. So Tommy, FD.R. He's traveling back from the old Yalta Conference on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula when he just finished dividing up, you know, as you do, post-war Europe with Churchill and Stalin and he thinks, hmm, let's make a pit stop in Saudi Arabia

on the way home. Is that how it works? This was the ultimate gas run, Raj. And you'll love this. According to official records of the meeting that you can find on the State Department, website, the two leaders spend most of their time arguing about the future of Israel and Palestine. Tommy, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sadly, yes, my friend. But Roosevelt was prescient and knew that Saudi Arabia would be absolutely

critical to meeting America's future energy needs. And the U.S.-S.-Saudi partnership, it deepened and evolved over time. The two countries worked together to combat communism and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. And then in the early 1990s, the Saudis' the Saudis allowed U.S. and coalition troops to operate out of Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. This, by the way, was a decision that made a rich Saudi Nepo baby named Osama bin Laden very unhappy. But that is a story for another even more depressing podcast. God help us if that guy makes an appearance in World Corrupt Season 3. Knock on wood.

And since 9-11, the United States and Saudi Arabia have worked together to combat terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. And I'm sure that America, you know, conducted ourselves in a... morally principal way right, you know, leading with our values, constantly pushing Saudi leaders to do better when it comes to democracy and, you know, human rights. So every team needs great role players, and per usual, my role here will be to disappoint you. And so no, Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, meaning what the king says goes in dissent is not tolerated. And frankly, the U.S. has been pretty much fine with that setup in the name of stability. Oh, give me you tired.

You poor, you huddled masses yearning for global stability. Unfortunately, Raj, the U.S. has a long history of working with flawed leaders, as long as we share some kind of common enemy. And the latest such enemy is Iran. Remember that whole axis of evil term that George W. Bush coined? You know, Tommy, everybody focuses on that axis of evil thing, but I will go to my grave, believing the Bush's best line of all time was this.

I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah. I think we categorize that as dumb but technically accurate, which is the standard I aspire to here at Crooked Media. It's a high bar. It's a high bar for me. Iran has shown nuclear ambitions. It's friendly with all the wrong dictators. And over the years, Iran's leaders have embraced the death to America chance

and vowed to wipe Israel off the map. So it's a boogeyman that the U.S. wants buffers against, and Saudi Arabia fits right in. Okay, oil, check. Deterance, check. Tommy, once you got those two, you're kind of set for life. What could possibly go wrong now? Unfortunately, a lot of things, because in an absolute monarchy, everything depends on who's on the throne, pulling the strings, which brings us to a man known as MBS.

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Saudi Arabia's crown prince in Washington on Tuesday. After leaving Washington, the prince won't be going home. He'll be on a two-week tour visiting businesses and tech companies coast to coast, hoping to woo investors. Well, a real-life prince is in town. The Saudi Arabian crown prince has booked the entire four-season hotel in Beverly Hills. Hollywood has rolled out the red carpet for the prince. Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch hosted a dinner at his Bel Air home Monday night. All the movie moguls and the big stars were there to mingle. That's Mohamed bin Salman, the current crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and the leader responsible for bringing all that money into global soccer that you heard about in episode one. His father, Salman bin Abdulaziz, is technically the king.

But he's elderly, he's said to be in failing health, and MBS has been the one running the show since around 2017. Is there some kind of reverse Logan Roy stitching? There are definitely some succession vibes here, Except I think the Saudi version entails you locking up your family members and the Ritz Carlton and maybe torturing them. Sounds like series 2 episode 3, bore on the floor. One of the greatest TV episodes of all time, Rod. That show is something for everybody.

But we'll talk more about the Ritz Carlton incident in a bit. But MBS's path to power was even more shocking, even more improbable than Tom Wamsgans. He was the sixth son of the 25th son of the founding king. So by my calculations, is that coming in somewhere like, you know, cousin Greg levels. You can't make a tomlet without breaking some Gregs, Raj. And look, so to figure this all out, we went to someone who knows this story better than almost anybody because he wrote an unbelievable book called MBS, The Rise to Power of

Muhammad bin Salman. My name is Ben Hubbard. I'm the Istanbul Bureau Chief for the New York Times. Ben laid out just how improbable it was that MBS rose to see such power. He was just really not on anybody's radar. He was way too far down the totem pole. And the way that it ended up working out is he basically got incredibly lucky. A number of things happened.

King Abdullah died, I think, in January 2015, who was the previous king? Saudi Arabia's elderly King Abdullah died yesterday. It was pneumonia. Abdullah's half-brother, Salman, will assume the throne of the kingdom. When you become king in Saudi Arabia, you're the king. I mean, it's one of the few actual absolute monarchies left on the planet. And you can do whatever you want. In a royal shake-up, Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been anointed to succeed his father, King Salman, when the 81-year-old passes away.

King Salman has issued royal decrees, appointing his royal highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince and deputy prime minister. Now, Muhammad bin Salman is next in line to be king. And there were lots of other people that just kind of seemed like they were more qualified. I mean, he has older brothers who are the sons of the king's first wife, who one of them has a PhD from Oxford. Another one was the first Arab astronaut. You know, these are like serious people with serious educations. Serious people. Oh, Tommy, respect.

You've even got Benin on the succession show. Well played, mate. You are not serious people. I wish I could do it. What an accent. World corrupt. We are nothing if not steadfast in our commitment to the bit, Raj. At the time, MBS had a BA from a Saudi Union.

university and law, didn't really speak English, had not spent significant time outside of the kingdom. He had not studied abroad or attended a foreign university or really spent much time outside of the kingdom. But for whatever reason, his father decided that he was the one. I just love that the shift in tectonic plates of geopolitics can often just be boiled down to he was father's favor. It's never not incredible to me. I know, I know. But while MBS's brothers were living their jet-setting lifestyles and studying at elite universities, he was getting firsthand knowledge of how Saudi Arabia actually functioned. Here's Ben again. He was basically with his father all of the time. His father for many, many years was the prince of Riyadh, or he was sort of the, which sort of

makes him the kind of the equivalent of the governor. And a lot of Salman's job was to basically deal with society, to interact with society, whether it was, you know, weddings and funerals and sort of that sort of, you know, the more ceremonial stuff to, like, actually solving problems between people, two businessmen get in a fight over some plot of land. Sometimes they would bring it to some men and he would try to figure out who was right and who was wrong and, you know, lay down the law. So I think the significant minus is that he doesn't really have any innate understanding of how Saudi Arabia's Western allies operate, how they think, how they are going to react to certain things that he wants to do. He just doesn't know because he doesn't know these societies.

But the asset that he does have that ends up just being incredibly important is that he knows Saudi Arabia inside and out. Like the very back of his hand, Tommy. Or I should say, about as well as I know every single fast car live bootleg performance has ever been taped. I can't think of an analogy that fits more perfectly or incongruously at the same time, Raj. But it's not enough to just have a fast car. to know how to use it to your advantage. Here's Ben again. And so when it comes time to start maneuvering to elbow aside some of these other princes who would also like to become king, he knows how to do it.

And when it comes time to shove these clerics out of the way because he wants to start driving things in a different direction, he knows who these people are in a way that some of these other princes probably don't. And so he ends up using it to do a lot of things that I think lots of people thought were just not possible. And he does them with kind of surprising ease. basically, if I've got your drift, Tommy, MBS, he stayed home to understand, ah, the inside of the family business all the time.

His siblings are off at college just crushing those 12ers of Nazi light. And when it came time for Pops to hand over the keys to the family shop, he stepped up and he said, basically, this, this is mine now. I think you got the spirit of it. I think it's probably less Natty Light in the dorm room and more Louis-Trez, cognac and Stad. But, you know, you got the gist. But along the way, MBS took out some powerful and well-connected rivals. One of the key people MBS pushed aside was Muhammad bin Nayef or MBN.

Did the Saudis just choose these initials to make it all as confusing as confounding as possible? Or is this just all, you know, like a happy Sesame Street-esque accident? Happy accident, Raj. But stick with me here. So MBN was appointed to be crown prince by King Salmon in 2015. But before that, he spent years as a top counter. terrorism official in Saudi Arabia. In that role, MBN forged really close relationships with the U.S. intelligence community. In fact, back when I was at the White House in 2010, it was MBN

who provided us with this crucial tip that disrupted an al-Qaeda plot to send explosive devices to the United States on a cargo plane. You can see why former CIA directors all love this guy, but we'll get into more detail about MBN's downfall later in the show, but the gist is that he was forced to relinquish his title to MBS in 2017 in a brutal palace coup. Well, they do say, if you've got to get couped, at least do it somewhere nice, like a palace. You know, normally I'd agree with you,

but in this case, they stripped away MBN security detail, they withheld his medications, and they even threatened to harm his family if he didn't step down. This is like Luca Brazi horsehead in your sheet. This is Godfather-level darkness. But how did MBS present in the street? And how does he convince the public? I'm the person for this, Joe.

So publicly, MBS presented himself as the guy who had root out corruption when he was crowned prince. He wanted to be seen as a bold visionary reformer. Let me guess. He did all this by the book, right, through fully transparent legal proceedings, that kind of thing. I would describe it more as a forced shakedown. Oh, classic tomato tomato situation. But here's how the next step of this Game of Thrones style coup played out. And yes, I do know that we are mixing TV and movie metaphors at the moment.

And I'm fine with it. But so, Raj, imagine you are one of hundreds of very rich members of the royal family in Saudi Arabia. You get invited to the Ritz-Carlton and Riyadh for a gathering. So far, so good. But your tone suggests, I'm just guessing behind the Ritz-Carlton shower curtain is Stephen A. Smith about to jump out and yell, but! Yeah, the catch is. get Bayliss is there in your hotel room, but then your cousin or whomever MBS is to you and the family tree keeps you there in the hotel as prisoner and makes you sign over most of your wealth.

And this actually happened. Ben detailed this in his book. They checked them all into rooms at the ritz. They took away all their stuff. They put them in rooms where like the glass for the showers had been taken and the curtain cords, the glasses. They used paper cups and stuff because they didn't want anybody to try to commit suicide. And then they sent to Taylor around. Who, like, went to the rooms, took people's measurements, and then, you know, day or two later came back with, like, a whole set of clothes, like, basically, like, their five-star prison outfits.

Yeah, what they say, Tommy, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. You're really seeing the bright side of this whole coup thing. I appreciate your positivity. But the story was a complete shock to the world when the details started coming out. And the claim that it was all in service of fighting corruption and wasteful spending turned out to be more than a little hypocritical. Because in the years leading up to this crackdown, MBS bought a $300 million chateau in France,

a $500 million yacht, and dropped $450 million on a Leonardo da Vinci painting that may or may not be fake. Oh, like a modern-day Robin Hood. Without the giving to the poor part. How did the rest of the Saudi population process all of this, MBS's age, old political theory, known as Biggie Smallsism, give me the loot.

It's hard to tell. So most Saudi citizens know that if you publicly criticize MBS, you're going to get a visit from the Saudi Secret Services, so they don't speak all that freely. And on top of that, unfortunately, there's no polling that can give us a real sense for what public opinion is in Saudi Arabia. But I have to say, MBS has done some things that made him very popular with many Saudi citizens. Is this one of those classic enemy of my enemy as my friend type situation?

but with Ritz-Karton reward points sprinkled in? No, I think this is more bread and circuses. So about 60% of the Saudi population is under the age of 30. And for them, life in Saudi Arabia could be, well, pretty boring. Until MBS came along and he started making what for Saudi Arabia were some pretty radical changes. MBS lifted a ban on movie theaters that had been in place for decades. He allowed men and women to attend concerts and musical events. Fast forward a couple years, Raj, and suddenly Saudi Arabia, of all places, is hosting massive

multi-day raves, and they're spending billions of dollars to host these high-profile sporting events. All hail the less boring millennial prince. A less boring millennial prince with a dark side. More on that after the break. World Corrupt is brought you by Zbiotics, and I've got to tell you about this game-changing product that I like to use before a night out with drinks. I've got no friends. I just go out with drinks.

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Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow, not today, tomorrow. And, Raj, this is so important when you're on the road canvassing for a candidate you believe in and you want to unwind at night before doing it all again the next day. Well, the evening before you do what we classify at Men in Blazers as, you know, that thing, work. I think it's called shouting at the television at 7.30m. in the morning, pretending like you have any control at all over 11 human beings, kicking a ball 3,000 miles away around the field. So, if you want this amazing product from these PhD scientists, pretty happy dude scientists,

go to zbiotics.com slash corrupt to get 15% off your first order when you use corrupt at checkout. Zbiotics is backed with 100% money-back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money. No questions asked. Remember, go to zbiotics.com slash corrupt. Use the code corrupt at checkout for 15% off. Thank you, Zibiotics for sponsoring this episode at our good times. World Corrupt is brought to you by the Human Rights Foundation,

an organization that we are so grateful of because they are beacons of the values that we hold near and dear here at World Corrupt. in, Tommy. Tell me how I can get involved. I am sending you a Google calendar invite right now, Raj, because between June 3rd to June 5th, the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum is heading back to Norway. Home of HVIC, head Viking in charge, Manchester City's early in Harlan, essentially a Norwegian shack. I bet you he loves freedom forums. Not sure he's book for this one, Rod, but at the Oslo Freedom Forum, you'll hear from courageous individuals who are pushing boundaries, challenging oppression, and driving positive change.

Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the global movement for freedom and democracy. Visit Oslof Freedomforum.com. Go today to get your tickets and use the promo code Crooked for 40% off day passes. That's Oslof Freedomforum.com. Use the promo code crooked. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a new generation in the Saudi royal family. What he does in Saudi Arabia can change the entire Middle East. I think the crown prince, in a lot of ways, he reminds me of one of those eternal optimists like Franklin Roosevelt or Reagan.

Giving women the right to drive. That will allow women in Saudi Arabia to drive. Change is coming to a kingdom once stuck firmly in the past. Part of Saudi Arabia's history that we haven't touched on yet is the religious aspect. The House of Saud, as it's known, has its origins with Prince Mohammed bin Saud from the mid-1700s. He aligned himself with a theologian named Muhammad bin Abdul al-Wahab, who preached a very conservative version of Sunni Islam, a supposed purification of it that requires a literal observance of the Quran. These two men created a system that fused church and state, although there's a lot of history in there that we're not going to get to in full depths just for the sake of time. But these clerics, because of this relationship, have always played an incredibly powerful role in Saudi Arabia.

Right. Now, some of this I do know, Tommy, because the rules were incredibly strict. No alcohol, no public displays of affection, no sex outside of marriage, atheism prohibited, women laws you kept separate for men in every public way. Emphasis on public decency laws. This list, have you guessed yet why I've never visited. More like no love island, right? Am I right? Jokes aside, Raj. So besides the straight misogyny and sexual repression, there have also been concerns in the U.S. over the years about the role of Wahhabi religious schools and the spread of extremist ideology. But for generations, this partnership between the House of Saud and these religious clerics was the foundation of the country's social and political order. The clerics gave the royal family religious legitimacy, and they helped them maintain order. In return, they got enormous influence over Saudi laws, the Saudi education system, and social norms.

And over the years, the Saudi royal family has slowly taken some steps to rein in the power of the clerics, but it was MBS who moved extra fast to enact social reforms and reduce the power of the religious police who monitor and enforce these rules. It was a strong signal from on high. An historic day for millions of women and their families here in Saudi Arabia. Until no, they've been forbidden by law to drive. Last night, that changed. After a 35-year ban, commercial cinemas will soon be granted licenses in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi culture minister is calling it a watershed moment for the cultural economy.

All right, so if I've got this straight, people, they can go to movies now, and women now have the right to drive. On one hand, these seem like the smallest, almost most basic consolations. They're like the Effortemps and Football Club of Social Reform. Raj, I just, I really thought we'd get to an Everston reference earlier. I'm a little disappointed in you. Tell me, you got me, I'm a little off my game. The truth is, while yes, these reforms are basic.

When you think about how ingrained conservatism is in Saudi culture, it's pretty stunning how much changed overnight. We spoke with an expert on the region who said these changes made MBS extremely popular with younger Saudis. My name is Sarah Lee Woodson and I'm being executive director of Don. Don stands for democracy for the Arab world now. And by the way, Sarah is also a former director of human rights watch for the Middle East and North Africa. I think anyone would be a fool to deny the mass popular support that Muhammad bin Salman does enjoy among the youth,

because he has given them what they want, which is the social cultural liberalization in at least some of the big cities, no longer enforcing mandatory hijab, allowing young men and women to mingle more freely, removing many of the guardianship rules that kept women unable to work freely without consent, study without consent and so forth. Some of these things were happening before him, but he really kind of put them on warp speed. So I think he does have a tremendous amount of popular support. Tommy, I'm listening to this. And I'll be honest, I keep coming up with a variation of the same question repeating in my head

over and over again. So tell me if I've got this right. With the exception of, yes, ousting his royal rival and then locking up some of his family members in a luxury hotel, which honestly, we all wish we could do from time to time. Who doesn't need a break? But this sounds like for regular Saudis, things became, they became kind of good or at least better to some degree. I mean, there's some truth to that, right? I mean, like, who cares if there's no elections, free press, freedom of speech or real economic opportunity? You go, you eat some popcorn, you watch some movies on the...

big screen. You let those eyes glaze over and obscure the world's problems with a little Hollywood movie magic, right? Oh, MBS. He just loves himself a bit of poor blot, more cop on the big screen. If you remember one thing from today, dear listeners, it's this, that the mind is the only weapon that doesn't need a holster. Kevin James, man. The hallmark of happiness that transcends the language barrier. I love it. But Ben Hubbard actually had a great point about how Westerners, we often wrongly assume that social liberalization and democratic reforms go hand in hand. I think there's an assumption by a lot of people in the West that social liberalization has to go hand in hand with political liberalization. And it's just not true. You know, you can be an autocrat and still be interested in people going to the movies.

Opening movie theaters and giving the women the right to drive doesn't mean that you're going to allow them to vote. You know, I think that those two things can be true much more than we probably assume in the West. Oh, Tommy. Why do I feel that this is shifting towards something? So much more than just voting rights that things are about, they're about to turn really ugly. Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise, the account that helps you manage your money all around the world. Tommy, this may come as a bit of a shock, but I'm a human being who can barely keep track of his neon green Velcro wallet in my own home.

That is so bloody true. And Wye sounds like a perfect way to keep me from, you know, ferreting around in the back of taxi cabs when I think I've lost it when I travel. So please, I'm in. Tell me more. I love when the Men in Blazers producers haze you in the ad copy. Wherever life takes you, Raj, the Wise account lets you send, spend and receive money in different currencies. Wise is the easy way to connect all your finances internationally, all without hidden fees or exchange rate markups.

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And be sure to use our promo code corrupt at checkout to save $5 off your order. And MagicSpoon is so confident in their product, it's backed with a 100% happiness guarantee. So if you don't like it for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions ask. Remember, start the new year off right with a delicious bowl of high protein cereal at magic spoon.com slash corrupt and use the code corrupt to save $5 off. Thank you, Magic Spoon for sponsoring this episode. Thank you, Magic Spoon. So at first, MBS convinced a lot of people that he was a sincere, modern reformer.

And frankly, a lot of people in the U.S. embraced him. On his first trip to the U.S. in 2018, MBS went to the White House. He visited tech leaders in Silicon Valley, and he got gone. Lazi, wonderful puff pieces from the New York Times in 60 minutes. Thank you very much, everybody. It's a great honor to have the Crown Prince with us. The Crown Prince is in Silicon Valley to meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook and top executives at Google. He visited Boeing and had a private meeting with Bill Gates.

But back home, MBS's dark side had been steadily revealing itself. Here's a couple of his least greatest hits. Oh, Tommy, it's very difficult to sell a least greatest hits album, Unless your lip biscuit. The least delicious biscuit of them all. But let me go through the list here. So MBS launched and steadily escalated a war in Yemen that led to what the United Nations calls

the world's worst humanitarian crisis. That's one. Two, he took the Prime Minister of Lebanon hostage and tried to force him to resign. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm sorry, did you say MBS took the Prime Minister of another country hostage? You're sure that's not like a script

that's crossed your desk for the later? has taken sequel, the one that comes after the writers, a completely hour of ideas. It was absolutely bonkers. If we can find a soccer nexus, that's World Corrupt Season 4. But third, MBS launched a blockade on Qatar that lasted years. Oh, how can you do that? It's a lovely little Qatar. The world's true home, a global football.

Oh, man, these are some high-stakes power moves, Tommy. And right around the time MBS gave women the right to drive, he jailed some of the most prominent women's rights activists in the country. who had been fighting for that right for years. But it didn't stop there. Here's Sarah Lee Whitson again. There's a lot of punishment for anyone who expresses a critical opinion, even on social media.

And in fact, criticizing the royal family, criticizing the Crown Prince is defined as a terrorist defense in the country under its terrorism law, for which the sentence is death or can be death. And so it has become much more a regime of fear where people are afraid to express opinions. I've had many Saudis say to me that it feels like Iraq under Saddam. You just cannot in any way, manner, shape, or form criticize the government,

criticize the world's family. You have women, students, recent graduates, who've received sentences of 45 years and 35 years for tweeting about changes that they want to see in the country, reforms they want to see in the country. And I'm talking really mild stuff. These are not people who are calling for destruction or revolution or anything like that. You have thousands of royal family members who cannot leave the country now. They've done nothing. They've never been charged with anything. But they're effectively prisoners inside the country because Muhammad bin Salman does not want people to leave the country and think they can speak freely.

Now, there's a lot happening inside of Saudi Arabia that we can't get a full accounting of. But there's one story that is now widely known throughout the world because it didn't happen on Saudi soil. Then it was a brazen example of MBS defying all international laws and emerging with blood on his hands. That's the story of Jamal Khashoggi. We are just getting word out of Riyadh that Saudi officials are now saying that Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist, who was a communist also. for the Washington Post, did in fact die inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish investigators say they found evidence that Mr. Khashoggi was killed inside

the diplomatic compound and his body possibly dismembered. People saw him go in, but they didn't see him come out as they understand it. And we're going to take a very serious look at it. It's a terrible thing. Turkey suspects an operation of this nature could only have been approved at the highest level in Saudi Arabia. the country's leaders didn't expect the disappearance of Mr. Kashoggi to escalate into their biggest diplomatic crisis since 9-11. This was a singular, atrocious and shocking act, Tommy.

And I remember following the news as it happened and the details came out drip by awful drip. And if all listeners aren't familiar, Koshouji, he was a journalist, he wrote for progressive publications or what passed this progressive publications as much as they were allowed within Saudi Arabia, even worked for the former Saudi ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom. You've seen as a Saudi insider, a critic, yes, an influential journalist, definitely.

And he fled the country in 2017 when MBS took control and made it very clear that there would be no room at all for press freedom. So after leaving Saudi Arabia, Khashoggi lived in basically self-imposed exile in Virginia and wrote for the Washington Post as a columnist. In late September of 2018, during a visit to Turkey, Kishoggi visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He needed to get official documents to prove that he was divorced so that he could marry his then-fiance, a Turkish academic.

The consulate employees told Kshogi, no problem. Come back in a few days. And so on October 2nd, Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate again in Istanbul, and he never came back out. A truly horrifying act, which the Saudis... They initially denied. They certainly tried, but it turns out that Turkey's intelligence services had that consulate building completely wired. And soon, the Turkish government went public with the truth.

Kishoggi had been gruesomely murdered in the embassy, and his body was dismembered. Shortly after, U.S. intelligence assessed that the operation against Kishoggi was personally approved by MBS. Sardin, the organization that Sarah is the executive director of, it was actually founded by Kishouji. Jamel had wanted to found an organization that would advocate for the interests of the Saudi people that would advocate for the interests of Saudi civil society, Middle East civil society, for freedom from justice from a place where he thought he could do that freely, and that was Washington, D.C. And he believed that it was important to push the U.S. government to stop supporting these abusive regimes who were stifling democracy and freedom. I think he believed more than I did that the U.S. was ultimately a force of good and could exercise its leverage and voice for good in the region. I think that was also deeply threatening to Muhammad bin Salman.

He took it as an affront or an assault that Jamal Khashoggi, who was extremely well known at millions of followers on Twitter, widely respected throughout the country, would be speaking freely and independently and critically about the country. And to do so from an organization like Dawn that would have power was doubly threatening to him. And I think that's why he killed him. So, Raj, let's take a moment after this horrific story to remind our listeners about why we're doing this series to begin with. Because this is a leader who imprisons people for tweets, who holds his own family members hostage, who held the Lebanese prime minister hostage and murders a journalist in another country. And as we covered in episode one, he's also at the head of the country and that pith. Remember, the Saudi public investment fund, which of course, those two things, Saudi Arabia and the Piff.

Remember, if you only take one thing from this podcast, totally unconnected. Nothing to do with the government at all, not connected. Yep, he just happens coincidentally to be at the head of these entities that are not so slowly becoming a major force in the most popular sport in the world by acquiring clubs, luring the world's biggest stars to the Saudi Domestic League with truckloads of cash, hosting, the 2034 World Cup, that global jewel. Also bidding for the 2035 women's World Cup. I crap you not. Yes, more on that World Cup in an upcoming episode.

And we're going to hear more about how MBS is buying and controlling the tech world, the film industry, the random apps we use every day. MBS is becoming ubiquitous. It doesn't stop at sports. And that's why we need to know about his vindictive personality and the Saudi human rights abuses. It is so, so important, Raj. And, you know, while it can be challenging to get first-person accounts of events happening inside Saudi Arabia, there are also people being victimized by MBS who live overseas.

We want to introduce you to one of those people. So my name is Khalid al-Jabri. Khalid's father is Dr. Saad al-Jabri. Post-9-11, he was the main liaison partner in counterterrorism between Saudi Arabia and the United States and the rest of the Five Eyes. Nah, whole an out song. Close. The Five Eyes is the name of an intelligence-sharing partner. between the U.S., the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

He was also the right-hand man for the former Crown Prince that we spoke about earlier, MBN. So, since MBN was MBS's chief political rival, his former right-hand man also became a prime target. But MBS doesn't just stop it as direct foes. He also goes after their families. In June of 2017, when MBS became Crown Prince after a palace coup in Saudi Arabia that saw the former Grand Prince, my dad's chaperon or patron, disappeared and put under house arrest. Things took a nasty turn from my family. We became political targets of MBS, given my dad's long-term relationship with the former

grand prince, and we got entangled in a royal feud. MBS actually went as low as it gets and started targeting his kids. Fortunately, at that point, most of my family members, and we're a big family. We're six boys, two girls, my mom and dad. all of them were outside, with the exception of Omar and Sarah. They were 16 and 17 years old at that point. And initially, on MBS's first day as Crown Prince, first morning, first order of business, he put them on a travel ban, preventing them from flying to Boston to go back to their schools.

And three years later, at the beginning of COVID in 2020, they were kidnapped from a home in Riyadh and disappeared, and nobody has seen them since then. This March, it will be four years. Recently, the UN working group in Arbitude dissension declared that their detention was unlawful, illegal. They called for the immediate release and therefore their case of this special rapporteur and torture and the group working on enforced disappearances. Khalid's father's in exile in Canada now, and he's actually filed several lawsuits against

MBS, two in the United States, one in Canada, accusing MBS of sending a, yes, a hit squad to kill him, hit squad that was apprehended at the Canadian border. Oh, God love those Mounties. God bless the Mounties, Raj. Callad's family story is terrifying, of course, and it gives us a window into the extreme links that MBS will go to. But big picture, it also raises a lot of questions about the future of Saudi Arabia. MBS is spending like there's no tomorrow.

But as Khalid pointed out, when you go after the family members of people that you have grudges against, he's also chasing away talented young people who could be. be the key to a future healthy Saudi society. Khaled is a cardiologist. He's a tech entrepreneur. He's someone who wishes he could return to Saudi Arabia. You know, I became a, you know, fully specialized cardiologist at the age of 32. Half my life was studying in public schools and sponsored by the Saudi government.

My goal, my dream was to be trained at the best institution in the U.S. and then take that knowledge back to Saudi Arabia. Like, I dedicated my life to that. So you can imagine, you know, like put everything that we're going through as a family aside. But for somebody to work so hard for a goal and then, literally wake up seven days before the finish line because I was about to finish my fellowship at Tufts in Boston. And, you know, my life has changed. I can't go back to Saudi for something I haven't done or for like it's something I'm not even involved in. I deliberately didn't want to get involved

in politics. I chose medicine because I don't want to get involved in politics. And it's pretty tough. So if you tell me today, you know, you can actually go back to Saudi Arabia. You'll be untouched. You'll be, you'll fulfill your dreams. You'll have complete freedom. Nobody's going to harm your family. I'll take an Uber to Dallas right. now with a one-way ticket. But I don't think anybody can guarantee that. That, Tommy, that not being able to return home. That, that is daunting. Seems like such a basic desire, a basic freedom, a basic longing. And it's one that begs a question. Why? Why, despite everything detailed in this episode, the crackdown on dissent, the social inequity, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,

Why do tech leaders? What are political leaders? What do they all come back to Saudi Arabia? And why do footballers keep flocking there? So, Raj, we're going to get into all of that and much, much more, including something called Vision 2030, which is MBS's plan for a more diverse economy since the world is trying to move away from fossil fuels. Oh, so it's the world's fault.

We're also going to talk about how despite all of this that you've laid out in quite painful often traumatic detail Saudi Arabia has still been awarded the world's biggest accolade the world's greatest jewel the world's greatest spotlight the world's biggest global football competition the World Cup

and yes and this I mean is mind bending is somehow still in the running and is considered a favourite by many to host the 2035 women's World Cup no no no no no not even FIFA could let that happen Raj the goal

State World Cup hosting will continue until morale improves. He's sure it's not a hauling out song. World Corrupt is an original podcast collaboration from Men and Blazers and Crooked Media's Pod Save the World. Alongside Roger Bennett, I'm your host, Tommy Vitor. The executive producers and writers of World Corrupt are me, Roger Bennett, my great friend Tommy Vitor and the remarkable men in blazers, Jonathan Williamson. From the crooked media side, our executive producer,

is John Carlo Bizarro. Our producer is Alona Mankovsky, and our associate producer is C.J. Feroni. For Men in Blazers, our writer is a magnificent bearded wonder with three names, Zach, Lee, Rigg, with all audio editing and mixing coming from the unbearably talented

Mighty Max Jaffe. Original music and audio engineering by the Sealy's Votopoulos. Our video producer is Kiril Pahlavi, with additional support from Milo Kim and David Tolls. Social and promotional support for Men and Blazers provided by Charlie Kitt, Randy Kim, Evan Ramis, Sophie Morrison, and Hayden Gray. Production support from Jordan Dalmedo,

and a special thanks to Men & Blazers, Managing Director, Scott Debson and RTS. Special thanks to cricket media is Julia Beach, Adia Hill, Kayla Moriarty, Ewa Okulate, Ashley Simon, Bernardo Serna, Madeline Herringer, Matt DeGro.