On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince declared war on the clerical elite who have long shaped Saudi society.

The man who will be Saudi Arabia’s next king, Mohammed bin Salman, did so by delivering an unequivocal message, “We are returning to what we were before, a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world.” The crown prince continued, “We will not waste 30 years of our lives wasting time dealing with extremist ideas. We will destroy them today,” he said.

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