The Man Behind the Plan

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Certainly there is work to be done. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, Abdullah has sent clear signals--albeit in the quiet, gradual Saudi way--that Saudis must face the rot in their own society. One after another, he called in groups of Saudi imams, teachers, journalists and businessmen and warned them against taking Saudi Arabia's puritanical creed of religion, known as Wahhabism, to unacceptable extremes. Though not to Washington's complete satisfaction, Abdullah began tightening up on potential terrorist financing, scrutinizing Islamic charities and freezing some suspect bank accounts, an explosive issue in a culture that fiercely guards privacy.

When Abdullah's half-brother King Fahd, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995, was running things, the Islamic establishment had free rein. As a result, it has grown in strength to the point that Saudi leaders generally are terrified of confronting it. But Abdullah seems to have the confidence to take a tougher approach. His assuredness is rooted in part in his popular standing. These days, no other prince can compete with him in popularity. He is widely regarded as straight talking and above corruption, especially compared with some of his conspicuously super-rich brothers.

Make no mistake, the Crown Prince enjoys his royal perks. He rides around in a Rolls-Royce with plates that read 001 or else a customized tour bus with a small living room complete with satellite TV. His ranch is surprisingly modest but features a collection of some of the world's finest Arabian and thoroughbred horses. His main meal, at 7 p.m. sharp, is a sumptuous banquet of Arabic and Continental cuisine.

Saudis nonetheless regard Abdullah, an energetic man despite his considerable girth, as a dedicated, in-touch ruler. Each day he rises around noon, a common practice among Saudis, who often prefer to work in the cooler nights. Abdullah greets visiting dignitaries, emissaries and ordinary citizens until his 7 p.m. meal, naps until midnight and then puts in another day's work until dawn prayers. Though a devout Muslim, if he's a zealot about anything it's TV news: his office has a bank of 33 television sets so he can monitor all the available satellite channels at once. In contrast to more remote royals, Abdullah has become a populist prince, touring the country and even munching burgers in fast-food joints.

A popular touch can be useful as Abdullah goes about tackling entrenched problems. During Fahd's 20-year reign, government spending soared, while oil revenues declined from $40 per bbl. in 1980 to about $20 today. Abdullah has set out to shake the kingdom of its dependence on oil, which produces 70% of the nation's wealth. He has spearheaded the most significant attempt at economic restructuring in the kingdom's history, opening negotiations with American and other Western energy powers on a $100 billion foreign-investment project to develop natural gas and build related electricity and water-desalination plants.

At the same time, Abdullah has slashed government budgets. In February, he warned bureaucrats that they faced dismissal if they didn't perform effectively, a shocking declaration in a system that once assured every college graduate a government desk and a paycheck, work or no work. The 30,000-strong royal family wasn't spared the belt tightening: no more ignoring telephone and utility bills, he decreed, or treating the national carrier Saudia like a private airline.

Some of Abdullah's reforms are still blocked by Islamic opposition. His efforts to bring the kingdom into the World Trade Organization, for example, could help create jobs, and unemployment is 15%. But the obstacles to membership include the country's lack of appropriate commercial and insurance laws. Islamic traditionalists regard such laws as an affront to Shari'a, the rules of life that, according to Muslim tradition, were handed down by God.

Abdullah faces similar difficulties when it comes to issues like gender, sex and education. In 1999 Abdullah declared that the country would "open all doors" so that women could play a greater role in society. But to this day, Saudi women are entirely forbidden to drive and are prohibited from traveling by plane without the permission of a male guardian. Abdullah has approved a population-control campaign to address what may be the gravest long-term threat to stability, a birthrate unofficially put at 4.2%, one of the world's highest. Yet fearing the wrath of religious leaders, who claim that Islamic teaching calls for large families, he has limited the program to giving the green light to newspapers and intellectuals to start raising the issue.

There are some things that even the relatively progressive Abdullah wouldn't want to change. He gives no indication, for instance, that he plans to introduce democracy to the kingdom, whose national assembly comprises 120 appointees. It is just after evening prayers when Abdullah sits back in a stuffed chair for a three-hour discussion of the challenges the kingdom faces. As he chain-smokes his way through a pack of Vantage cigarettes, his bottom line is that change will come, but at a Saudi pace. "It is more rational to change gradually," he explains. "There is less disruption to the social balance." Even a reforming al Saud, it seems, can't escape that wary caution.