Saudi-Arabiens Tortur

**Submission Statement:**
The Saudi state is nearing an inflection point. Heavily dependent on oil revenues to maintain the legitimacy of the state, in the coming decades Saudi leadership will need to pivot to modernize and diversify the economy. The Saudis face many challenges: internal divisions between the conservatives/fundamentalists and the moderates/reformers, along with the Sunni/Shia conflicts. The Saudi state has long since relied on oil revenues and religious authority as their pillars of legitimacy, but both face growing challenges. Add in pressures from Iran & Turkey, along with an increasingly disinterested and chaotic U.S., and it becomes a high-stakes balancing act. MBS is left with the challenges of modernizing and reforming a country while maintaining the traditionalist pillars that support it.

It’s a shame I personally thought it was a fantastic country to visit. However you can see a big difference in attitudes in jeddah and riyadh to the rest of the country.