The enduring myth of the young Arab reformer | Financial Times

The enduring myth of the young Arab reformer | Financial Times:

It is an enduring myth. As the era of the stubborn old Arab autocrat fades, the young son with a modern outlook rises. The people, who have no say in the matter, hope that the son will improve on the father. Western governments convince themselves that he will and set out to help him succeed.

Over the past decade, western policy towards the Middle East has relied, time and again, on the myth of the young Arab reformer.

He has appeared under different names: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad (son of longtime ruler Hafez), Libya’s Seif al-Islam (son of Muammer Gaddafi), Egypt’s Gamal Mubarak (son of Hosni, the former president), and, most recently, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman (son of King Salman).