I'm not sure if things have gotten worse, or if I've become more aware of things as I get older. I'd modify your list to be a little more finely grained (altho

I'm not sure if things have gotten worse, or if I've become more aware of things as I get older. I'd modify your list to be a little more finely grained (although this might be more KSA specific than other Arab countries): 1 - Members of the royal/ruling family/clan/tribe. 2 - Arabs (Sunni) 3 - Arabs (Shi'ite) 4 - White collar expats (westerners and what you point out as educated immigrants) 5 - Blue collar workers (muslim) 6 - Blue collar workers (infidel) Our family has lived in the middle east (at various times, my father worked for Saudi Aramco and what is now called Honeywell), and the stories seem to be getting worse over time, both in the slacking-off of the natives and the abuse of the menial labor. The money is very lucrative for western white collar workers, but I'd have a hard time collaborating with the abuse. Part of the problem is that the locals don't feel that they're bound by any contract they sign (and the Arabic language version is the definitive one, in any case). Consequently, foreigners tend to get the dirty end of the stick. The stories of workers getting shafted are quite often the results of this.