"It's very difficult for authoritarian societies to modernize."

Rational Radio Daily with Steele and Ungar

11 of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent business and political leaders, including Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the wealthiest men in the world were arrested and detained over the past weekend under orders from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb described the arrests as a crackdown on corruption in the government, stating that they are “merely the start of a vital process to root out corruption wherever it exists”. Were these arrests really an attempt to eliminate corruption or was it merely a way for the Crown Prince to rid himself of potential political opponents? Ambassador Gerald Feierstein, director of the Center for Gulf Affairs at the Middle East Institute, explained the palace intrigue rocking Riyadh. Mikhail Zygar, a Russian journalist and filmmaker, joined us to talk about Russian politics, the influence of the Bolshevik Revolution on Russia 100 years later and his new book, “The Empire Must Die: Russia's Revolutionary Collapse, 1900-1917”.