Posted by John, February 22nd, 2011 - under Revolution, Saudi Arabia.



Saudi Arabia is dependent on oil. It is the largest exporter of petroleum. The country has 20% of the world’s proven petroleum reserves.

According to the CIA World Fact Book ‘the petroleum sector accounts for roughly 80% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings.’

Foreign workers – mainly from Asia – produce that wealth.

The country has a workforce of just over 7 million in a population of 26 million. Almost 6 million of the workers in the Kingdom are foreigners. They play the key role in the oil industry.

Unemployment among Saudi Arabians is estimated at anywhere between 10 and 25 percent. Among young Saudis the figure is estimated at 40 percent. Nearly half the population is under 18.

Their education levels do not make them suitable for many jobs other than feather bedded state ones.

The country is ruled by a dictatorial royal family. The King and crown princes have an average age of 83.

The country is run according to sharia law. The Islam of the House of Saud – Wahhabism – is a conservative literalist version. Osama bin Laden thinks the dictators in charge of Saudi Arabia are corrupting Wahhabism.

Corrupt they certainly are. Although Saudi Arabia is the richest Arab country, that wealth has been declining per capita since the early 80s.

The disparities in wealth are great. Some estimates have 30 percent of the population living in poverty, without adequate education.

The oil workers – the producers of the wealth in Saudi Arabia – are relatively well paid compared to those working Saudis. They could destroy the Saudi Arabian dictatorship overnight.

They make up only 2 percent of the working population but they are the key to the wealth of the Kingdom. Without them working – either because of strikes or internal unrest possibly targeting them – the economy would collapse within a week.

Most foreign workers are in fact in domestic work and extremely badly paid and treated.

A large youth demographic. High unemployment. That sounds familiar across North Africa and the Middle East.

Just across the water – in fact Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are connected by a huge bridge – lies Bahrain. The House of Saud has urged the rulers there to crack down brutally on demonstrators.

Part of the reason for this is that the monarchy in Bahrain is Sunni, while 60 percent of the population are Shi’ite. The Sunni minority do very very well.

15 percent of Saudi Arabia’s population are Shia, and they live in the oil rich region of the country.

Saudi Arabia shares a border with Yemen, another country undergoing a revolution. Egypt is just across the Red Sea. In Kuwait, another country with which Saudi Arabia shares a border, the Bidoon are demonstrating, demanding citizenship rights.

Let’s look at the scorecard for Saudi Arabia. High youth unemployment. Massive inequality. Corruption. Declining wealth. A large minority of the population discriminated against on religious grounds. An economy totally dependent on oil, and the industry dominated by foreign workers who have absolutely no rights. Revolutions nearby setting an example of how ordinary people can change the world.

No, there could never be a revolution in Saudi Arabia, could there?