Under Saudi crown prince and strongman Mohammad Ben Salman, Saudi Arabia is undergoing a process of transformation. Religion has been one of the key areas targeted by Ben Salman, who has vowed to “fight extremism” and has taken measures to relax social mores. Stéphane Lacroix (SciencesPo, Paris) was invited by the Middle East Directions Programme of the EUI on 30 April 2019 to analyse and discuss on the shifting power dynamics in Saudi Arabia and, more specifically, how they are affecting the Saudi religious establishment, its ability to exert control over Saudi society and to export its brand of Islam to the rest of the world.