Saudi Arabia is becoming more nervous and proactive as a result of Arab revolutions and demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, and elsewhere within the Middle East and North Africa.
After small protests were held in the eastern region cities of Hofuf and Qati, the Saudi Arabian monarchy reportedly banned all protest and marches. There are also reports of the movement of up to 10,000 Saudi Arabian troops being deployed in the eastern region. The troop movements were reported in the Independent, a British newspaper, as posted in the article "Saudi Arabia bans protest rallies" by Al-Jazeera Middle East Staff, last modified: 05 Mar 2011 15:15 GMT.
Only last week King Abdullah returned to Saudi Arabia after receiving medical treatment in the United States. One of his first acts upon returning was to announce $37 billion in new benefits for Saudi citizens. The offer seemed to be an obvious bribe to stifle protests within the kingdom.
Revolutions in Arab Nations are Making the Saudis Nervous
However, it appears that with the fever of revolution blazing furiously throughout the Arab world, the Shia population's grievances against the ruling Sunni minority have gained new legs. The Shia's have long complained about being discriminated against, especially in matters of economic and employment opportunities. They also state that they are subject to detention without trial and being tortured while held in detention.
The Saudi monarchy has become increasingly nervous as demonstrations and protests continue in neighboring Bahrain. Bahrain is a small island nation to the east of Saudi Arabia and is connected to the Saudi mainland by a causeway that was financed by the Saudis. The Saudi's fear that the unrest in Bahrain, which comes largely from a majority Shia population that, as in Saudi, is ruled by a minority of Sunni rulers, will spread into the oil-rich eastern regions of Saudi Arabia.
Young Shia Population Gaining Courage as Revolutions Spread in Arab World
The Saudi monarchy has good reason to be nervous about the protests in Bahrain and the Arab revolutions. As it is one of the most repressive regimes in the region, indeed in the world, grievances and anger among a majority young, restive population, which is Internet and Facebook savvy, has gradually increased to the protest, and perhaps even the extreme, stage of revolution. The young Saudis now have the example of Tunisia, Egypt, and perhaps Libya, as to how popular uprisings can overthrow aging repressive regimes.
The caustic scent of revolution is now in the Saudi Arabian air. No wonder the Saudi monarchy is taking proactive steps to crush dissent. A large percentage of the Saudi population is under the age of 30. With King Abdullah at 87 being in poor health and responsible for years of repressive rule, there is a huge generational and discriminatory gap that the king is attempting to bridge. The width of the gap is evidenced by the king spreading $37 billion around in the hope of defusing anger by buying off the protesters.
"Day of Rage" May Ignite Widespread Protests
Young protesters have declared Friday, March 11,2011 as a "day of rage" in Saudi Arabia. Violence between young protesters and the repressive Saudi regime now seems inevitable. And with violence in Saudi Arabia oil prices will almost certainly soar to all-time highs. It's not only the Saudis who should be nervous about Arab revolutions.
As oil prices soar, long-term United States support for repressive Arab regimes in the name of realpolitik may be about to turn about and bite us good and hard, right in the wallet. With continued revolutions in the Arab world, nervousness must be reaching gut-churning levels in Washington as well as in Riyadh.
Gerald Greene - Technology may save the world but it is a hard task master. It takes increasing amounts of work to keep up with the latest and greatest.
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