washingtonpost.com
Reform With an Islamic Slant
Saudi Pro-Democracy Movement Poses Dilemma for U.S.
By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 9, 2003; Page A23
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- When Saudi democracy activists circulated a petition recently calling for an elected national assembly, an independent judiciary and a crackdown on corruption, they received support from some unexpected quarters.
Most of the 104 intellectuals, former government officials and university professors who signed the document -- a rare challenge to the royal family -- were Islamic traditionalists and conservatives. Although some self-described liberals also put their names on the petition, it was largely shunned by the pro-Western Saudis cultivated by the U.S. Embassy here as the most progressive elements in the kingdom.
The fledgling reform movement in Saudi Arabia, a pivotal U.S. ally that boasts a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves, illustrates a dilemma confronting the Bush administration as it advocates the spread of American-style political freedoms in the Middle East. Political analysts here say that free elections in Saudi Arabia would likely be won by Islamic fundamentalists hostile to the United States, creating the risk of an upsurge of anti-Americanism along the lines of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.
"I don't think the U.S. will like the outcome of democracy here," said Abdul Hai, one of several political science professors at Riyadh's King Saud University who signed the reform petition. "But let the Islamists and the traditionalists come to power. If they fail, others will take their place."
Reform With an Islamic Slant
Saudi Pro-Democracy Movement Poses Dilemma for U.S.
By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 9, 2003; Page A23
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- When Saudi democracy activists circulated a petition recently calling for an elected national assembly, an independent judiciary and a crackdown on corruption, they received support from some unexpected quarters.
Most of the 104 intellectuals, former government officials and university professors who signed the document -- a rare challenge to the royal family -- were Islamic traditionalists and conservatives. Although some self-described liberals also put their names on the petition, it was largely shunned by the pro-Western Saudis cultivated by the U.S. Embassy here as the most progressive elements in the kingdom.
The fledgling reform movement in Saudi Arabia, a pivotal U.S. ally that boasts a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves, illustrates a dilemma confronting the Bush administration as it advocates the spread of American-style political freedoms in the Middle East. Political analysts here say that free elections in Saudi Arabia would likely be won by Islamic fundamentalists hostile to the United States, creating the risk of an upsurge of anti-Americanism along the lines of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.
"I don't think the U.S. will like the outcome of democracy here," said Abdul Hai, one of several political science professors at Riyadh's King Saud University who signed the reform petition. "But let the Islamists and the traditionalists come to power. If they fail, others will take their place."
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