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A powerful Saudi Arabia has not been a force for good in the world so I don't know why I'm supposed to worry about it.

HenryKissinger 6y ago
The land itself isn't going anywhere. The sands of Saudi Arabia won't sink below the sea. The physical country will still exist. But what kind of government, what kind of state, can afford to govern that space and provide for its people, without oil revenue?
- Brakenshire 6y ago
  It will be like any other country in the world. We should hardly feel sorry that they’ll no longer be ridiculously pampered and looked after by an underclass of mistreated immigrants. They have enormous opportunities, both in other available resources and in a capital overhang, to make their way.
- vel0city 6y ago
  From certain perspectives it hasn't been that great of a state even with massive oil incomes. It will probably continue to be a state with massive wealth inequality and repressive government theocracy. It'll just have more social unrest to possibly change the status quo. Maybe people will really start to demand change there.
Qwertious 6y ago
Violence and instability in the middle east has caused problems in western countries. Of particular note are 9/11 and Europe's refugee crisis.
sshumaker 6y ago
Indeed. Can you imagine the alternate reality if the Saudi branch of Islam was something more like Sufism instead of Wahhabism, given the number of mosques the Saudis have funded all around the world with petrodollars?
- notsureaboutpg 6y ago
  A lot of people mistakenly believe that Saudi influence is behind the spread of Wahabbism but Wahabbism/Salafism is actually a quite modern ideology which rejects the hierarchical notion of "trusted" scholars for the idea of people discerning rulings on their own. Because of state intervention in religion across the Middle East, scholars who contradict the state often end up silenced. So the "approved" scholars are often not approved of by the people. Salafism allows them to continue practicing Islam without state influence. If Saudi were officially supporting Sufi scholars it would make no difference to the Muslim world (some states in the Middle East do something similar and their effect on Islamic thought is miniscule as a result). Most Muslims (even mainstream ones) are not fans of the kind of Sufism Westerners are fans of. Without Saudi influence Wahabbism would still be a reckoning force in the world today because it solves a political problem most Muslims still face and it reflects most Muslims' honest thoughts on the world today. I say this as a practicing Muslim.

The land itself isn't going anywhere. The sands of Saudi Arabia won't sink below the sea. The physical country will still exist. But what kind of government, what kind of state, can afford to govern that space and provide for its people, without oil revenue?

Brakenshire 6y ago
It will be like any other country in the world. We should hardly feel sorry that they’ll no longer be ridiculously pampered and looked after by an underclass of mistreated immigrants. They have enormous opportunities, both in other available resources and in a capital overhang, to make their way.
vel0city 6y ago
From certain perspectives it hasn't been that great of a state even with massive oil incomes. It will probably continue to be a state with massive wealth inequality and repressive government theocracy. It'll just have more social unrest to possibly change the status quo. Maybe people will really start to demand change there.

Qwertious 6y ago

Violence and instability in the middle east has caused problems in western countries. Of particular note are 9/11 and Europe's refugee crisis.

sshumaker 6y ago

Indeed. Can you imagine the alternate reality if the Saudi branch of Islam was something more like Sufism instead of Wahhabism, given the number of mosques the Saudis have funded all around the world with petrodollars?

notsureaboutpg 6y ago
A lot of people mistakenly believe that Saudi influence is behind the spread of Wahabbism but Wahabbism/Salafism is actually a quite modern ideology which rejects the hierarchical notion of "trusted" scholars for the idea of people discerning rulings on their own. Because of state intervention in religion across the Middle East, scholars who contradict the state often end up silenced. So the "approved" scholars are often not approved of by the people. Salafism allows them to continue practicing Islam without state influence. If Saudi were officially supporting Sufi scholars it would make no difference to the Muslim world (some states in the Middle East do something similar and their effect on Islamic thought is miniscule as a result). Most Muslims (even mainstream ones) are not fans of the kind of Sufism Westerners are fans of. Without Saudi influence Wahabbism would still be a reckoning force in the world today because it solves a political problem most Muslims still face and it reflects most Muslims' honest thoughts on the world today. I say this as a practicing Muslim.