Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a top global thinker because he is pursuing extraordinary changes to Saudi Arabia's society and economy.

I note this in light of the uproar that has followed Foreign Policy magazine's recognition of the crown prince as a top "global thinker." That recognition is "ridiculous," says Washington Post global opinion editor Karen Attiah. Recognizing that Foreign Policy is not endorsing the crown prince's morality but simply his influence, Attiah adds, "There’s a certain point where remaining neutral on violence and repression is harmful." Others supported Attiah's criticism.

Former Obama foreign policy adviser (and Iranian revolutionary guards appeaser) Tommy Vietor had the following to say:



You’ve got to be fucking kidding me — Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) February 7, 2019



Columnist and former conservative Jennifer Rubin felt similarly:



This is obscene — Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 7, 2019



They are all wrong, and Foreign Policy is right.

Look, Mohammed bin Salman is not a nice guy. Under his direction, Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally tortured and murdered. But the world is imperfect and must be recognized as such.

At the margin, Mohammed bin Salman is a good thing for Saudi Arabia.

While he has unjustly imprisoned a number of women's rights activists, clerics, and other political activists, he has also authorized new rights for women. Granting women the right to drive, for example, is profoundly important in publicly emancipating women from the previous social construct that they should be hidden.

Also crucial for regional stability and U.S. security interests is the crown prince's effort to end Saudi dependence on oil exports and embrace the Emirati model of economic diversification and international connectivity. This reform matters greatly because without it Saudi Arabia is heading for structural economic implosion. Considering Saudi Arabia's youth bulge and its powerful Salafi-extremist clerics, an economic catastrophe would lay the ingredients for an Islamic terrorist empire of much greater strength, size, resource, and capability (potentially even nuclear) than that of the 2014-era Islamic State.

So, yes, Mohammed bin Salman's ideas are important even if he isn't a nice guy. Foreign Policy is right to recognize as much.