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Saudi Arabia calls the Middle East “the new Europe”

The Kingdom’s Crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman declared the Middle East to be “the new Europe,” claiming the region would be “totally different” in the coming five years. During an address to an investment conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Prince Salman vowed the Middle East would become a forefront of the world. Mohammad Bin Salman said, “I believe that Europe, the new Europe, is the Middle East. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the coming five years will be totally different. Bahrain will be totally different, Kuwait, even Qatar. Despite our difference with them, they have a strong economy and they will be totally different in five years. Emirates, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and the opportunities they have. If we succeed in the next five years, many other countries will follow up. The coming renaissance in the next 30 years will be in the Middle East. This is the war of the Saudis, this is my war, which I launch personally. I don’t want to leave this life before seeing the Middle East at the forefront of world, and it will happen 100%.” The 33-year-old Saudi Crown Prince is widely viewed as a reformist to the conservative Kingdom, has actively sought to diversify his country’s income, after years of reliance on its rich-oil reservoirs. Furthermore, Prince Salman indicated a favorable approach toward normalizing relations with Israel, a fact that has angered many across the Muslim world, including Saudi Arabia’s arch rival, the Islamic Republic of Iran. To that end, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attended today an Innovation Conference he initiative, declared innovation to be an engine of peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors. In Netanyahu’s words, “It’s not merely an engine of progress, it is an engine of peace. Now, I’m not speaking theoretically, because right now as we speak there quite a few of the neighboring countries that are reaching out to Israel and normalizing relations with Israel, which is a step towards peace, because of innovation. And they want our innovation, not merely for security reasons. They want it for civilian reasons, they want it for water, they want it for health, they want it for IT, they want it for solar energy, they want it for everything, everything. They look around, they look around the region, they look around the world, as do other countries, and they see Israel as a hub of innovation that can offer a better, safer, richer life and a longer life for their peoples. And this is happening right here and right now in the Middle East, it’s a boon to peace”