Will the death of King Fahd change the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US? According to Mark Hollingsworth in today's
Guardian there is every reason to suspect that it will.
Abdullah is determined to curb royal corruption, which escalated in the mid-90s despite the kingdom running up multibillion-dollar deficits. He is also likely to be more non-aligned, reducing Saudi dependency on America in order to increase the prospects of peace in the Middle East. For decades Saudi Arabia has been acquiescent in supporting US strategic interests.
And King Abdullah seems to be a very different prospect to his corrupt and greedy forbears.
During his 23-year reign, King Fahd acquired a personal fortune of $20bn. He encouraged what the CIA called "a culture of royal excess" and Saudi princes brazenly cashed in on UK and US defence contracts.
But, unlike most senior princes, Abdullah is not corrupt. He has turned his back on the palatial luxuries of Riyadh and Jeddah. He has always been an aberration in the House of Saud. He represents the Bedouin, conservative, tribal interests in the kingdom. His rare concession to modernity is the bank of 33 television sets in his office, which allow him to monitor all available satellite channels at once.
So, the new king of Saudi is not beholden to the Bushites, believes in austerity and takes an interest in what's going on ion the world.
While King Fahd remained alive, Abdullah was restricted in implementing reforms - reducing dependency on the US for its security, stamping out royal greed, implementing the rule of law and curtailing the power of the militant Islamic clerics.
It'll be interesting to see what happens when the US can no longer rely on having it's thirst for oil quenched by Saudi Arabia.