International security/ Abdullah governed in ways that were generally
congenial to U.S. interests
A leader does not have to be a truly great person to play a historically
significant role if placed in a situation that is sufficiently fragile and
weird to force such importance on the individual in charge.
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who died overnight at age 90, was in such
a situation by being in charge in Saudi Arabia, a family-run kingdom that is
both weird and fragile—an anachronism in the twenty-first century. Although the
Saudi monarchy is still almost absolute, the individual king is not, since he
has to contend with factionalism and ambitions within the royal family.
But the family politics are just another of the complications that pose
a challenge to the man at the top who has to hold the whole thing together,
baling wire and all. Abdullah occupied that role for 20 years, the first ten as
crown prince and de facto regent when the disabled King Fahd was still alive,
and the last ten as king himself. During this time he personally affected many
things of importance to the Middle East and to U.S. interests there.
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