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> Saudi Arabia is a Monarchy, frankly speaking the monarchy should/would have collapsed long time back if not the for the systematic information control and low

by gokhan 14y ago

> Saudi Arabia is a Monarchy, frankly speaking the monarchy should/would have collapsed long time back if not the for the systematic information control and low ball offers made by the royal family to the citizens. Don't forget unquestioned support from western governments.

zerostar07 14y ago
OTOH, the west would probably support any kind of stable government there. KSA doesn't have seem to have much else other than oil, so they would have to cooperate as well. Foreign support may provide credentials to the ruling family, but in the end it's the citizens (or in their case, subjects) that define their collective fate.
tokenadult 14y ago
Don't forget unquestioned support from western governments. The support has not always been "unquestioned." Trade and normal diplomatic relations with the Saudi monarchy has never implied agreement with its position on Jewish settlement in Israel, for example. The 1975 cover article in Harper's magazine "Seizing Arab Oil" by "Miles Ignotus" (Latin for "unknown soldier," a pen name for a State Deparatment official who later was revealed to be Henry Kissinger) was part of a public warning to Saudi Arabia that it couldn't do just whatever it pleased and still expect the normal give-and-take of friendly diplomatic relations. http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Document-reveals-Nixon-plan-to-seize-Arab-oil-2818821.php http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Document-reveals-Nixo... Saudi Arabia hasn't been invaded, while Iraq has, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/03/thirty-year-itch http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/03/thirty-year-itch mostly because the national regime there balances its interests and desires with the interests and desires of other national governments that have the power to seize its source of national power: low-cost petroleum production. The domestic policies of Saudi Arabia look horrifically backward to me, but they are changing, http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-paris-hilton-saudi-arabia-20121121,0,4764554.story http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-paris-hilton-... and pushing for more liberalization more of the time is something that Western countries increasingly see as an expedient thing to do with other countries (and themselves!) as the world grows smaller and more interconnected.

by gokhan 14y ago

zerostar07 14y ago

OTOH, the west would probably support any kind of stable government there. KSA doesn't have seem to have much else other than oil, so they would have to cooperate as well. Foreign support may provide credentials to the ruling family, but in the end it's the citizens (or in their case, subjects) that define their collective fate.

tokenadult 14y ago

Don't forget unquestioned support from western governments. The support has not always been "unquestioned." Trade and normal diplomatic relations with the Saudi monarchy has never implied agreement with its position on Jewish settlement in Israel, for example. The 1975 cover article in Harper's magazine "Seizing Arab Oil" by "Miles Ignotus" (Latin for "unknown soldier," a pen name for a State Deparatment official who later was revealed to be Henry Kissinger) was part of a public warning to Saudi Arabia that it couldn't do just whatever it pleased and still expect the normal give-and-take of friendly diplomatic relations. http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Document-reveals-Nixon-plan-to-seize-Arab-oil-2818821.php http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Document-reveals-Nixo... Saudi Arabia hasn't been invaded, while Iraq has, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/03/thirty-year-itch http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/03/thirty-year-itch mostly because the national regime there balances its interests and desires with the interests and desires of other national governments that have the power to seize its source of national power: low-cost petroleum production. The domestic policies of Saudi Arabia look horrifically backward to me, but they are changing, http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-paris-hilton-saudi-arabia-20121121,0,4764554.story http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-paris-hilton-... and pushing for more liberalization more of the time is something that Western countries increasingly see as an expedient thing to do with other countries (and themselves!) as the world grows smaller and more interconnected.