...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016....has "every right" to succeed his ailing father into power, says Russian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, warning the United States against interfering with the embattled prince's right to rule the kingdom.
Oh. Um... Okay.
Bogdanov, who is also President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
's envoy to the Middle East, said Tuesday it was up to Riyadh to decide what was next for bin Salman when King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians...., 82, dies.
"Of course we are against interference. The Saudi people and leadership must decide such questions themselves," Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview in Moscow, according to Bloomberg.
Bin Salman became Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler last year in an untraditional manner, replacing Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the late Saudi king's son.
Wary of getting bogged down in a power struggle, bin Salman soon launched a widespread crackdown against other royals to cement his grip on power.