It should never be underestimated with the Saudi ruling family, the importance of regime stability at all costs.
One of the criticisms made of the emerging economies is that they are using cooperation to gain markets, political influence and access to natural resources. But that is what the countries of the North are also seeking.
The Arab monarchies must not be undermined by the Islamist movements, but rather should come to some sort of working arrangement with them.
The rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar insist that Bashar Assad step down or be removed by force because the Syrian people want him gone. Yet, they ignore the fact that the Arab peoples want them all gone, not just Assad.
America is still the Gulf states' indispensable ally, but the indecisiveness of Obama's policy in the Middle East is starting to foster frustration and concern in the Gulf capital cities. This is where Romney might have a card to play.
Do the Gulf States expect anything at all from the next president of the US?
The military and security apparatuses of these Gulf states plays a role in keeping the peace, but the best way forward is to build a civil society that is bound by a unifying mechanism such as a functioning, representative, elected parliament.
My articles will seek to present the Saudi Arabian context as a historical, societal and political landscape full of distinct norms, customs, ideologies and, indeed, shocks, about which some foreigners may have no clue. These articles will hopefully take the non-Saudi reader ‘backstage’, to places
The fall of autocratic regimes in the Arab world have led to the inevitable rise to power of Islamist groups who have had no real competition. These groups however are ill-equipped to tackle the economic, social and political problems that these countries face today.
What are the prospects of war over Iran? The hi-tech arms and intelligence trade between Washington and its regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, is a guide.
