I have now read two articles, one at Vox.com and one at Time, that promote the same view I have—that Saudi Arabia’s heir apparent is no liberal democrat and no friend of ours or, indeed, of a benign, peaceful world. I expect that will become increasingly apparent in the fullness of time and these two are just the first of many.
A few minor and, ultimately, meaningless gestures in liberalizing the Kingdom’s repressive policies don’t make up for prosecuting a needless war against Yemen or KSA’s continuing financing of imams all over the world who preach their reactionary form of Islam and in many cases violent jihad.
If a charm offensive and letting women drive is all it takes to get good press in the U. S., they’re a pretty small price to pay. I’d rather see some real, material policy changes.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s problems weren’t caused by Iran and they won’t be solved by turning the clock back to 1979. It has serious economic and social problems and they won’t be solved so easily.
