“Vision 2030”. This is the name of the strategic plan launched in 2016 by Prince Mohammed bin Salman (nicknamed “MBS”) for Saudi Arabia. The man who de facto heads the monarchy intends to invest in tourism and the development of renewable energies in order to diversify his resources and improve the image of his country… and his own. Broadcast Sunday January 19 on France 5 (at 9:05 p.m.),e documentary MBS, the Arabia of the future Walid Berrissoul looks back on the rise of the ambitious 39-year-old prince, who dreams of making the kingdom the leader of the Arab world and a privileged partner for the West.
The film goes behind the scenes of the Neom project, a futuristic urban planning project supported by “MBS” and the basis of “Vision 2030”. Walid Berrissoul also shows how, behind declarations advocating the opening of the country, the Saudi regime continues to oppress its political opponents and the population.
Franceinfo.fr: Did you explain your intentions to the Saudi authorities before making this film?
Walid Berrissoul : Yes, we were very transparent without obviously giving them the list of political opponents that we were going to interview. We explained that we wanted to make a very balanced film, which would be neither incriminating nor hagiographic. Usually, the Saudis refuse, but after insisting, they finally accepted. They understood that we wanted to make a documentary to understand the country, even if we discuss the problem of human rights, the way in which opponents are treated and the situation of women.
Mohammed bin Salman has been at the helm of the kingdom for almost a decade, and I wanted to understand the evolution of this country with this colossal futuristic city project, this madness of grandeur and this absence of limits. I thought of this film as a form of projection into the future.
Didn't Saudi political opponents, refugees abroad, fear testifying?
It was quite easy, because they are trying to make another voice heard. They struggle so that we do not forget that, behind what the Saudi regime shows in its commitment to the world, opponents are still muzzled or thrown in prison. This diaspora is not huge, but what raises questions is that it grew from 2017, when MBS came to power and installed reforms of openness, such as the authorization of entertainment in cinema, and a supposed greater freedom for women.
The power of “MBS” remains very vertical…
Yes, Mohammed bin Salman concentrates all the powers, both politically and economically, which is quite unprecedented even for an absolute monarchy like Saudi Arabia. No one had imagined that he would rise to the head of the country, because he was considered a second-rate prince, which also developed a form of spirit of revenge in him.
In 2015, at age 30, he was appointed Minister of Defense. He then launched a war against the Houthis in Yemen. Then he came to power thanks to his father, removing his cousin Mohammed ben Nayef, promised to the supreme office. The resounding purge he carried out in 2017 established his power, while the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 showed his brutality. Today, “MBS” seems to be more inclined to pacify its relations with neighboring countries.
-Is his way of governing linked to the fact that he did not study abroad?
At the beginning of the 2000s, many Saudis, from the royal family, studied abroad and, 20 years later, became executives in the country's administrations and companies. Mohammed ben Salmane was not from this circle, because he did all his studies in Riyadh [la capitale saoudienne]which gives him an advantage today. Because for years, he was able to understand how the mysteries of power worked.
“Mohammed bin Salman does not run his kingdom as his ancestors did with a certain balance of power between the great families, but rather like a business leader.”
Walid Berrissoul, director of the documentary “MBS, the Arabia of the future”at franceinfo
Does the Neom project contribute to his desire to see his country as an ecological model?
Yes, but despite the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in this project, it is failing because there is precisely too much money. The futuristic ecological city [star du projet Neom]called “The Line”, was to be 170 km long and was finally reduced to 2.5 km. The Saudis brought people from all over the world, whom they paid very well, and yet people left after a few months, because many difficulties were grafted onto this project: a failing organization, too vertical management associated with to totally unrealistic goals. This is a real problem for MBS's Vision 2030 plan, presented as the cornerstone of his project.
Isn't the implementation of Neom too far removed from ecological considerations?
Indeed, it is paradoxical, because ecology is the heart of this project. However, constructions come out of nowhere and cause the destruction of nature and a colossal use of resources. Not to mention the economic and human cost. “MBS” a yet aware that global warming is very real, and that it is an almost existential question for him and his people.
This is why he is mainly relying on technology to solve this problem. He thinks he can control nature and continue to release nine million barrels of oil per day by capturing CO2, while the IPCC predicts that, in the years 2050/2060, the Gulf countries will be uninhabitable for humans. This country lives in great contrast with a future in question.
The documentary MBS, the Arabia of the future, directed Walid Berrissoul, is broadcast Sunday January 19 at 9:05 p.m. on France 5 and on the france.tv platform.
