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Interesting, but I don't see Americans emigrating to Saudi Arabia to be part of a "Middle Eastern Silicon Valley." There are just too many obstacles culturally

Interesting, but I don't see Americans emigrating to Saudi Arabia to be part of a "Middle Eastern Silicon Valley." There are just too many obstacles culturally and politically. Here are some examples that came to my attention recently: -Saudi Arabia is one of the least welcoming countries in the world for foreigners.[1] -Saudi Arabians are on average far less racially tolerant. Don't expect to see a SF-style mixing pot without conflict.[2] -The religious laws conflict sharply with US culture and belief, and that goes twice for SF. Homosexual acts, for example, are punishable by the death penalty.[3] Non-muslims cannot worship in public, etc. -Women cannothold certain jobs, including engineering jobs.[4] Saudi Arabia may be the next Silicon Valley, but only for people near the Arabian peninsula who will have an easier time adapting. Westerners will continue to avoid working there until conditions improve from their perspective. [1]2http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TT_Competitiveness_Report_2013.pdf http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TT_Competitiveness_Report_2... [2]http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15... [3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia [4]http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/viewFile/183/309 http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/viewFile/183/309

basicallydan 13y ago
You would be surprised. Between the 70s and 00s thousands and thousands of Westerners moved to Saudi Arabia to work in these industries: - Oil - Defence - Aerospace And they managed just fine for decades. In fact, there are still loads out there. Brits, Americans, Aussies, Italians, South Africans, Dutch, New Zealanders, Canadians. All of these are common nationalities to have emigrated to Saudi Arabia. Mostly, they lived in walled-off compounds which had some of their own rules or ways of working. Source: I was born there and lived there for 12 years. I am British. Maybe I will write about this: http://helpmewrite.co/people/basicallydan/ideas/1787 http://helpmewrite.co/people/basicallydan/ideas/1787
- ignostic 13y ago
  About 100k westerners according to Wikipedia - not a large percentage at all. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but those compounds basically hire their own security and ignore several SA religious laws. SA isn't yet a business-friendly environment for westerners, and that goes twice for Americans. Rather, some westerners are doing business in spite of a hostile environment. I would love to read about your experience and thoughts as someone who's been there, though.
mathattack 13y ago
I just don't see what SA brings besides the money. The industries quoted elsewhere are already existing. That isn't to say pockets of engineers might go there, but it just seems unlikely. How many uber-smart people target any of the cities listed? My money would be on Abu Dhabi, but even then it's a longshot.

basicallydan 13y ago

You would be surprised. Between the 70s and 00s thousands and thousands of Westerners moved to Saudi Arabia to work in these industries: - Oil - Defence - Aerospace And they managed just fine for decades. In fact, there are still loads out there. Brits, Americans, Aussies, Italians, South Africans, Dutch, New Zealanders, Canadians. All of these are common nationalities to have emigrated to Saudi Arabia. Mostly, they lived in walled-off compounds which had some of their own rules or ways of working. Source: I was born there and lived there for 12 years. I am British. Maybe I will write about this: http://helpmewrite.co/people/basicallydan/ideas/1787 http://helpmewrite.co/people/basicallydan/ideas/1787

ignostic 13y ago
About 100k westerners according to Wikipedia - not a large percentage at all. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but those compounds basically hire their own security and ignore several SA religious laws. SA isn't yet a business-friendly environment for westerners, and that goes twice for Americans. Rather, some westerners are doing business in spite of a hostile environment. I would love to read about your experience and thoughts as someone who's been there, though.

mathattack 13y ago

I just don't see what SA brings besides the money. The industries quoted elsewhere are already existing. That isn't to say pockets of engineers might go there, but it just seems unlikely. How many uber-smart people target any of the cities listed? My money would be on Abu Dhabi, but even then it's a longshot.