Over the past week, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and de facto ruler, redefined diplomatic theater by declining to attend the G7 summit in Canada, with the official line citing “scheduling conflicts” and the international press seeing a leader more interested in autonomy than appeasement. Regional and international outlets noted his absence, analyzed the optics, and speculated on his motives: disengagement as self-promotion.
While skipping summits in the West, MBS worked the home front—launching a drive to localize “super-intelligent chips” in Saudi Arabia and framing the Kingdom as the region’s innovation hub. The official press and tech coverage portrayed MBS as a modernizer, keen to claim a slice of the global AI future. In true Saudi style, every investment announcement is also an image campaign.
The international stage, however, still beckoned. Amid the carnage in Gaza, MBS positioned himself as a would-be peacemaker—fielding proposals from the Palestinian president, talking up diplomatic overtures, and suggesting Saudi leverage as both carrot and stick. Behind the scenes, analysts pointed to Riyadh’s desire to boost regional stature and influence talks without ever getting its hands dirty.
Meanwhile, MBS and King Salman sent condolences for the deadly Indian plane crash—a move carefully timed for maximum diplomatic mileage. In a week when absence became a headline, even gestures of grief were deployed for soft-power effect.
For Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, every decision—showing up or staying home, buying chips or selling peace—reminds the world who calls the shots in the Gulf’s twenty-first-century show trial of power. In the new era of personalist rule, even silence is a message, and every empty chair is a calculated move.