Politics in an American colony in the Arabian desert

"Power politics suggests that the current stalemate could continue awhile. King Salman controls the money; Mohammed bin Nayef controls the interior ministry and its surveillance network; and Mohammed bin Salman controls the key oil and economic ministries. The deputy crown prince told a recent visitor that he didn’t expect to be king until he was 55, which is roughly Mohammed bin Nayef’s age. That informal comment is hardly a guarantee of stability, however."