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Saudi Arabia Offers Blueprint For Mideast Reform

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By K.C. POULIN, CRAIG GUNDRY and TERRI WONDER

Published: September 12, 2007

This month U.S. movie theaters ill debut the new action film, 'The Kingdom.' No doubt, audiences will be delighted as they watch an FBI special agent nd his team dodge bullets and weave their way through a complex world of politics and cultural intrigue.

Although many of the events portrayed in this film are partly based on historical occurrences, unfortunately few viewers are likely to know the difference between the old Saudi Arabia as portrayed in 'The Kingdom' and the new state evolving the past few years under the leadership of King Abdullah.

For sure, Saudi Arabia has had its internal problems over the past decades. Most Americans still remember the aftermath of 9/11 when we discovered most of the suicide hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Their leader, Osama bin Laden, was raised in Saudi Arabia and bin Laden's spiritual leader, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, had been an Islamic studies professor in a major university there.

Those revelations soon begot others as the public wanted to know how one nation could become infested with a subculture of citizens willing to commit what one scholar, Abdelwahab Meddeb, described as 'human sacrifice' and 'a blasphemy committed on the world stage.' After all, Islam does not condone human sacrifice.

The implication was clear: Saudi Arabia had internal problems that had become external ones. The Kingdom's initial response was an international public relations campaign that did nothing to assuage the international arena. Neither did the campaign cause the release of dissenting Saudi journalists who had criticized their country and summarily had been imprisoned.

A direct threat to the Kingdom's existence by al-Qaida attacks in 2003 (and again in 2005) awakened the House of Saud and sparked a number of meaningful reform initiatives by the new King Abdullah, who spearheaded a comprehensive campaign coinciding with needs-assessments developed by the United Nations Committee on Human Rights.

Saudi Arabia's subsequent accounts to the United Nations reveal a range of positive reform initiatives: The Kingdom has established a system of municipal governments and local elections. It also has implemented human rights protocols for its police and judiciary, from pre-arrest to post-trial stages.

It also freed dissident journalists and took measures to protect children and other vulnerable classes. In addition, to guard against terrorism financing, Saudi Arabia has created accountability procedures for its charities that distribute funds throughout the world. Most importantly, the Kingdom began modernizing its educational curricula and methods as a means for teaching human rights.

Most of Saudi Arabia's reform initiatives did not begin until 2005. However, as Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes states, 'The Saudi model is a good one. Municipal councils give Saudis opportunity to learn the ways of democracy.' In a nod to Iraq, Pipes further said, 'Better to elect a dog catcher first. Not prime minister.'

As a partner in the war on terrorism, Saudi security forces also have been very successful over the past few years in dismantling al-Qaida's operational capability in the Kingdom. Gone are the days of passive ignorance when al-Qaida cells grew under the nose of the regime with little fear of interference.

Most Americans are still recovering from the wounds of 9/11, and in our trauma we may be cautious and wary.

However, we must temper our skepticism by noting that Saudi Arabia in 2003 experienced a smaller but similar trauma. Saudi Arabia's new king and leadership know that without meaningful reform they risk their nation's existence, that of their neighbors, and perhaps Islam itself. The Kingdom's support for peace initiatives between the Palestinians and Israel also reveal a willingness to act as a partner in pacifying Mideast conflict.

We suggest that other voices from the Islamic world that respond by accusing their critics of cultural attack have much to learn from the Saudi response to terrorism. Looking within is difficult for anyone, let alone an entire nation.

K.C. Poulin is the CEO of Critical Intervention Services, a Clearwater-based security firm, and is a nationally recognized expert on terrorism and homeland security. Craig S. Gundry is program director of the S2 Safety and Intelligence Institute's Anti-Te

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