Political Issues In Saudi Arabia

From its creation, America has been a beacon of hope and freedom to many countries who have aspired to adopt their democratic values. Yet, these values have not always been sought after by other countries, and instead are sometimes imposed upon the ones who rarely accept them with open arms. The Middle East is a seamless example of countries exhibiting resistance to the American way of life and democracy; with many leaders rebelling against the notion due to religious reason. Particularly, Saudi Arabia has been a Middle Eastern Country that has had very close relationship the United States, and over time has adopted forms of its culture even though it clashes with their own. Saudi Arabia has become more Westernized and modernized with the discovery …show more content…
America’s continues need of foreign oil at a reasonable price and Saudi Arabia’s need of an inexhaustible source of cash as well as protection against other nations created a codependent alliance with each other that ultimately withstood the test of time. Before the United States came Saudi Arabia was for the most part underdeveloped and lacked much of the modern technology and diet of the Western nation because it went against the religious teachings. Cars, television, alcohol, tobacco and air conditioning were all seen as “the Devil set out to destroy the Muslim faith” (Quicksand, 59). Americans often took part in these things on the Saudi soil, which infuriated many of the locals who felt that the Americans were being rude and were plaguing the country with these unwanted material items. In the beginning, the American officials had thought the money they showered the Saudi government with would spread throughout the kingdom to enrich the county and its citizens. Instead, the money was kept by a majority of the royal family to spend however they pleased, which was often Haram items. Other western countries like Britain felt that America 's constant supply to the nation would cause bigger problems with the citizens than the government. America felt that the backwards thinking of Saudi Arabia give them leverage over the country since they had no …show more content…
Years of corruption and mismanagement had taken a toll on citizens as they had become restless to see many foreigners employed with jobs that should have belonged to them. Not only that but the foreigners had talked about the limited civil rights and political freedoms enjoyed by themselves but not citizens. These ideologies mixing in with the traditional lifestyle thinking clashed with one another and ultimately lost much respect for the Saudi royal family. It was apparent to citizens that a social class had become wide and more secular and against the Quran. In order to combat this the royal family pushed the Americans out and their ideologies and brought back many of the old ways of life. This showed that the mixture of too much Americanization and moderate living could topple the Saudi power yet this was something that neither America or the Saudis wanted to