House of Saud

How did Saudi Arabia find itself at the heart of the escalating Middle East crisis? Traveling from eastern Europe to India via the bloody battlefields of Syria and Yemen, this program traces the impact that vast Saudi cash and weapons have had worldwide, and how the kingdom is now working with the West to return to moderate Islamism. Can it be a force for good – and with what consequences?

Wholesale industrial corruption has long plagued Saudi Arabia and, when exposed, has caused huge embarrassment for foreign businesses and governments. In an attempt to crack down on these practices, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman imprisoned some of the state’s richest individuals in a luxury hotel. Are his actions economically driven or politically motivated?

Their wealth has given them lives of privilege out of the spotlight. But the growth of social media has meant that Saudis are increasingly aware of the royal family’s behavior – and transgressions. A demographic time-bomb of a hugely young population and an economy beset by low oil prices has prompted a series of reforms, but will they be enough to enable the House of Saud to stay in power?