RE: democracy as containment in Saudi Arabia ?

["Brownson, Jamil" <JBrownson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

good post, in as far as it goes, since the royal family is as much a mixed
bag as any group of several thousand might be. Having worked there with all
kinds of people from princes to peons, I have a great respect for many of
the royals, while many others are useless or even worse, corrupt &
reminiscent of an ancien regime.

But it is a complex system and society, one step forward, two backwards, two
forward, one backwards. One of my former students who is now a Dean well
represents the paradox, in many ways he is a liberal educator seeking to
modernize curricula in social sciences & improve the quality of research and
teaching, and while quite progressive in terms of political democracy, his
social values toward separating gender and restricting female opportunities
for broader work and social participation are no diferent from what is
atrributed to the Taliban, who were educated as Wahabis and supported by the
same Saudi ideologs.

In short, Saudi society is not much different from the USA in terms of the
power of its religious right, its easily influenced middle of the road,
right of centre, population, and its marginalized centre left, not to
mention those on the true left spectrum, who remain beyond the pale.

Has anyone read of teh "List" compiled by Lynn Cheney, et. al., of
subversive academics who are now being blamed for any anti-government
breezes blowing through out this rapidly totalitarizing country?

jb

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Murray [mailto:seamus2001@xxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 9:24 PM
To: pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [PEN-L:20058] democracy as containment in Saudi Arabia ?


[NYTimes]
November 28, 2001


A Saudi Prince With an Unconventional Idea: Elections

By DOUGLAS JEHL

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 27 - A prominent member of Saudi Arabia's
royal family called today for a transformation that would bring
elections, "the faster the better," to a kingdom whose only bow to
democracy has been the establishment of an appointed advisory council.

Prince Walid bin Talal, a billionaire investor, said in an interview
here that he was addressing the politically taboo subject to augment
what he called intensive discussions within the royal family about
what Saudi Arabia could be doing better to address domestic
discontent - particularly in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, in
which 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudis.

"If people speak more freely and get involved more in the political
process, you can really contain them and make them part of the
process," Prince Walid said.

The remarks were unusually candid in a kingdom that almost always
maintains a guarded public face, particularly on questions of internal
decisions and any kind of political liberalization.

They echoed loud but private calls by Saudi liberals, who have begun
to speculate that the widespread Saudi participation in the Sept. 11
attacks was at least in part a consequence of a closed political
system that allows little room for political expression.

[snip]