Now to the problems there. There are ethno-confessional issues in Saudi Arabia. The eastern provinces, which are mostly populated by Shiites is where the majority of the oil resources of the country are located. So in case the situation there destabilizes, the situation in the entire country will also deteriorate, with the according consequences.
There are some serious social problems. The Saudis don’t want to work, which is quite typical of many oil-rich states. It is not a prestigious thing to do. Instead, they hold public sector jobs or live off government support, because working is not prestigious. There isn’t a huge gap between the rich and the poor because a lot of money is spent on various social projects but if Saudi Arabia is no longer able to fund these projects, it may become another Yemen with the situation that we’re observing there now.
Islamism is another fairly serious problem for Saudi Arabia, because for the majority of the radically-inclined part of the population, the policies pursued by the royal regime are perceived as treacherous and collaborationist. In this context, Saudi Arabia ends up being an exporter of these radical elements to all the world’s hot spots, although this is largely out of desperation. It is a commonly accepted view that Saudi Arabia supports terrorism but this is not accurate. The point is that Saudi Arabia exports these guys elsewhere so that they don’t run amok inside the country. As soon as someone gets the idea to blow something up, the systems absorbs him straight away: at the mosque he is advised where he needs to go, which foundation to approach, he’s given a gun and shipped off elsewhere – Iraq or another location – so as not to destabilize the domestic situation.
Islamism is another fairly serious problem for Saudi Arabia, because for the majority of the radically-inclined part of the population, the policies pursued by the royal regime are perceived as treacherous and collaborationist. In this context, Saudi Arabia ends up being an exporter of these radical elements to all the world’s hot spots, although this is largely out of desperation. It is a commonly accepted view that Saudi Arabia supports terrorism but this is not accurate. The point is that Saudi Arabia exports these guys elsewhere so that they don’t run amok inside the country. As soon as someone gets the idea to blow something up, the systems absorbs him straight away: at the mosque he is advised where he needs to go, which foundation to approach, he’s given a gun and shipped off elsewhere – Iraq or another location – so as not to destabilize the domestic situation.
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