How will change in leadership affect U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia?
On Friday, Saudi Arabia buried its late ruler, King Abdullah, hours after the 90-year-old died from a long illness.
The kingdom has the world's attention because it controls the largest reserves of crude oil and is the religious center of Islam.
A 79-year-old king -- Abdullah's half brother -- takes his place. The only country named for the family that runs it, Saudi Arabia Inc., moves on.
But it may move on at an even slower pace than it did under King Abdullah, who granted only modest political and social reforms. Even the campaign to allow women to drive is still stuck in first gear.
Still, Abdullah was an unshakable ally of the U.S. in the fight against al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). But Saudi money has also underwritten other radical groups in Syria and Yemen that the U.S. considers extreme and dangerous.
The new king, Salman, has promised to carry on the same policies. The U.S. may not need Saudi oil as it once did, but Middle East analyst Jonathan Paris says the odd-couple U.S.-Saudi alliance will continue.
"I think Saudi will continue to be a dependable partner because Saudi Arabia is against the Muslim Brotherhood, they're against ISIS, so there's a lot of overlap," Paris says.
In the Middle East, the enemy of my enemy is still my friend.
