King Salman must handle a volatile region

Saudi Arabia’s new king inherits a legacy that has distinct challenges – and possibilities

Saudi Arabia's new king, King Salman, is a veteran of the country's top leadership. (AP Photo/Saudi Press Agency, File)

Saudi Arabia’s new ruler inherits a legacy that has distinct challenges – and possibilities

Saudi Arabia has a new king and the two holiest sites in Islam have a new custodian. King Salman spoke to his people after assuming the throne and promised to continue the path set by King Abdullah and his predecessors. That stability will be vital in a region beset by threats. But King Salman will also face unpredecented challenges: ISIL, Yemen, internal reform and global markets. All of these issues will be on the king’s desk this morning as he starts his first full working week on the throne.

The new king is a consummate politician. King Salman steered Riyadh, the capital, over a half-century, overseeing its transformation from a relatively small city to the most populous urban conurbation in the Gulf. He also became Minister of Defence in 2011. He will need all of those diplomatic skills in a rapidly turning region.

Start north of the kingdom, where ISIL still control territory stretching across both Syria and Iraq – the latter sharing a long stretch of desert with Saudi Arabia. The kingdom knows that ISIL has Saudi Arabia firmly in its sights – and the king will be determined that the instability that the terrorist group has brought to Syria and Iraq will stretch no further south.

To the south as well, another militant group has taken control of parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. Yemen is enormously important to Saudi Arabia but was apparently unrepresented at King Abdullah’s funeral, in large part, because, on Friday, the Yemeni president and his entire government resigned. King Salman now faces the reality that the two most populous countries bordering Saudi Arabia are not in charge of their own territory.

The Iranian hand is evident in the instability in both Iraq and Yemen. King Abdullah played host to Iran’s then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Riyadh twice, and invited Hassan Rouhani last year. King Salman will want to continue this diplomatic drive, while making clear that Iran cannot forever play a double game, destabilising Saudi Arabia’s allies.

These first few months will be taxing for the new king. He will need all the wisdom and patience he has shown in the past to deal with the challenges that now buffet his kingdom.