With the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, the downside of the Middle East’s recent legacy of autocratic rule is coming to the fore. Here, President Obama and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah in 2010. Photo: Roger L. Wollenberg/Press Pool The death last week of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah means the Middle East is nearing the end of an extraordinary era of leadership, which goes a long way toward explaining why the region is in such turmoil and so plagued by extremism flaring to the surface. King Abdullah—whose memory President Barack Obama honors with a visit to the kingdom Tuesday—sat atop the Saudi government for a decade and effectively ruled for a decade before that, after his predecessor suffered a debilitating stroke. For 20 years, then, he was a reliable U.S. ally who used a combination of skillful maneuvering and an iron fist to keep his country calm and […]