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Saudi Arabia replaced a generation of its military leadership, for the first time opened some military jobs to women and promoted a woman to a top post at the Labor Ministry, in a series of rare steps in the ultraconservative kingdom.
Reported by the official Saudi Press Agency late Monday, the royal decrees are the latest move in a dramatic campaign to overhaul the country's institutions led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful son of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud.
The kingdom's leaders gave no explanation for the abrupt changes — including a new military chief of staff and other top defense and interior ministry officials — setting off speculation that the military shake-up was due to failures in the stalemated war in Yemen. But analysts say this is part of wider reforms, which include rapid changes in economic and social policy as well as increased military engagements abroad.
"There is a bigger project to reform the military," said Bernard Haykel, a Mideast specialist at Princeton University.
"Military weakness has been exposed by the war in Yemen, it has helped them understand the problems."
For three years, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition of nations in a military campaign in Yemen against the armed Houthi movement, which has ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia's chief rival. The kingdom has received international criticism for a stalled conflict that's killed nearly 6,000 civilians and has put 22.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations.
The Saudis have spent billions to buy the latest military hardware, mainly from Western countries like the United States, Britain and France, but there remains a gap between procurement and capability.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, serves as the Saudi defense minister and is considered an architect of the Yemen war.
He's voiced frustrations with perceived limitations and analysts say that has spurred the military reforms, which include a push to build a domestic armament industry. Crown Prince Mohammed, Haykel says, "wants Saudi Arabia to carry its own water when it comes to defense."
https://www.npr.org/sections/parall...di-arabia-is-suddenly-shaking-up-its-military
Reported by the official Saudi Press Agency late Monday, the royal decrees are the latest move in a dramatic campaign to overhaul the country's institutions led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful son of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud.
The kingdom's leaders gave no explanation for the abrupt changes — including a new military chief of staff and other top defense and interior ministry officials — setting off speculation that the military shake-up was due to failures in the stalemated war in Yemen. But analysts say this is part of wider reforms, which include rapid changes in economic and social policy as well as increased military engagements abroad.
"There is a bigger project to reform the military," said Bernard Haykel, a Mideast specialist at Princeton University.
"Military weakness has been exposed by the war in Yemen, it has helped them understand the problems."
For three years, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition of nations in a military campaign in Yemen against the armed Houthi movement, which has ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia's chief rival. The kingdom has received international criticism for a stalled conflict that's killed nearly 6,000 civilians and has put 22.2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations.
The Saudis have spent billions to buy the latest military hardware, mainly from Western countries like the United States, Britain and France, but there remains a gap between procurement and capability.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, serves as the Saudi defense minister and is considered an architect of the Yemen war.
He's voiced frustrations with perceived limitations and analysts say that has spurred the military reforms, which include a push to build a domestic armament industry. Crown Prince Mohammed, Haykel says, "wants Saudi Arabia to carry its own water when it comes to defense."
https://www.npr.org/sections/parall...di-arabia-is-suddenly-shaking-up-its-military
