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Could It Happen There? {March 7, 2011 , 4:20 PM} Maybe. Madawi al-Rasheed argues the potential for a revolution in the place many cannot imagine one happening—the Saudi kingdom. Ever since Saddam's ouster nearby, its citizens have become more and more politically active, and the country's socioeconomic conditions are quite similiar to the surrounding Arab countries that've been burning up. Since January of this year they've been tasting the possibility of actual change. The House of Saud, not surprisingly, has been vehemently denying their country's context within the shifting Arab world. "We are not Tunisia," "We are not Egypt," "We are not Libya," (and perhaps in a month's time, "We are not the Arab world") have become well-rehearsed refrains of official Saudi political rhetoric in recent weeks. There is some truth in this: Carrots are often the currency of loyalty in oil-rich countries, including its wealthiest kingdom. But the Saudi royal family uses plenty of sticks, too. Public relations firms in Riyadh, Washington, and London ensure that news of the carrots travels as far as possible, masking unpleasant realities in one of the least transparent and most authoritarian regimes in the Persian Gulf. What cannot be hidden anymore is the political, economic, and social problems that oil has so far failed to address. ---------- Post a Comment ---------- |
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