Fast-track to Saudi Arabia's throne?

Recent top appointments have increased speculation about the succession, but the overall outlook for the kingdom appears stable

A group of civil servants at the Bourj al-Hamam restaurant in Riyadh, watching the waiter fill their glasses with Saudi "champagne"—a non-alcoholic fruity concoction—reflected on the enormous changes in the kingdom since King Salman came to the throne in January 2015. "For years very little happened here," one told me. "Now the developments seem unreal, they're so fast, it's like we're in a dream." Associated with almost all the recent changes is the king's youngest son, deputy crown prince Muhammed bin Salman, who, still in his early 30s, also holds the defence portfolio and is the country's oil, economics and reform supremo. It has long been suggested by many people inside and outside Saud