Middle East: Saudi Arabia: Creating Frankenstein: The Saudi Export of Ultra-Conservatism - by James M Dorsey

The Saudi export and global support for religiously driven groups goes far beyond Wahhabism. It is not simply a product of the Faustian bargain that the Al Sauds made with the Wahhabis.

For the Saudi government, support of puritan, intolerant, non-pluralistic and discriminatory forms of ultra-conservatism – primarily Wahhabism, Salafism in its various stripes, as well as Deobandism in South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora – is about soft power.

To create soft power, Saudi Arabia has wage the single largest dedicated public diplomacy campaign in post-World War Two history. It is actually bigger than anything that the Soviet Union or the United States attempted.

The campaign is designed to a large extent to counter Iran in what is an existential battle for the Al Sauds, rather than a case of mere religious proselytization.

Note EU-Digest: Unfortunately many European Nations and the US are selling this totally ruthless and undemocratic fiefdom any kind of weapons and aircraft money can buy. When will this hypocracy end?

Read more: : Creating Frankenstein: The Saudi Export of Ultra-Conservatism - The Globalist