Saudi Arabia

For Americans Saudi Arabia was simply the place where the oil comes from, rather like Brazil, where the nuts come from. Suddenly it has been transformed from an ally into an enemy of the United States. The Saudi establishment has replied by withdrawing vast sums of money from the US and spending millions on propaganda to improve its image here. This has not really done much to remedy the general American ignorance of Saudi Arabia. Mecca and its port Jidda are on the west coast, adjoining the Red Sea The oil fields stretch in a straight line south from Kuwait on the Persian Gulf down through the desert to the east of Riyadh, whish is located roughly in the center of the country on highlands east of the desert which stretches from Iraq to Yemen and Oman. In the highlands northwest of Riyadh there are some traditional cities Americans have never heard of, notably Buryada, the heart of Saudi conservatism. A feature article in The Economist (8/24/02) entitled " Palpitations in the kingdom's heart" gives an interesting account of the struggle there between tradition and modernization, similar to the struggle in Iran. One important feature of this is that the old hostility between Sunnis and Shiites is disappearing. Should chaos erupt in Saudi Arabia, the whole Middle Eastern picture would change.

Ronald Hilton - 8/30/02