Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, CDHR, Washington DC

June 21, 2016

Saudi Economic Reform, Uber To Saudi Arabia, How To Defeat ISIS, Who Mutilates Islam

CDHR’s Analysis and Commentaries

The Saudi Economic Plan Won’t Fly Without The US, But At What Price?

CDHR Commentary: It remains to be seen, but after decades of total dependence on an oil-based economy, in a country that has been iron-fistedly controlled by an autocratic royal family, a novice prince (Mohammed Bin Salman, MbS) promises to reform and diversify the Saudi economy. Despite his ambitious approach and his family’s shocked realization that its treasury could implode within 5 years without drastic action to wean the country away from total dependence on dwindling oil revenues, Princ e Mohammed might find it difficult, if not impossible, to reform the kingdom’s faltering economy without transforming the current social and political arrangements which grant the ruling family ownership of the country and its resources by birth right. Read more: www.cdhr.info

Defeating ISIS Won’t Eliminate Terrorism, But Defeating Wahhabism Can

CDHR Commentary: While Western powers are mired in fighting diversionary and unwinnable ideological and civil wars in many Arab and Muslim countries thousands of miles away, the Saudi government has been intensely planting and financing its lethal doctrine (Wahhabism) in Kosovo, Europe’s backyard. Ironically, the Saudi success in penetrating Kosovo, as this New York Times’ account amply demonstrates, can partially be attributed to Western powers’ policies and myopic view of the world. Read more: www.cdhr.info

San Francisco-Based Uber Goes to Saudi Arabia

CDHR Commentary: The Saudi government is investing $3.5 billion to bring Uber to Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to help stimulate and diversify the Saudi economy in accordance with Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s (MbS) plan to reform the Saudi economy. According to Yasir Al Rumayyan, head of the Saudi fund who will join the Uber board, ‘This ambitious and far-reaching plan {introducing Uber} presents a number of goals, including unlocking strategic sectors such as tourism and entertainment, boosting employment opportunities and women's participation in the workforce, and encouraging entrepreneurship.’ Read more: www.cdhr.info

Who Mutilates Islam More Than Muslim Clerics?

CDHR Commentary: “Islam does not need protection” from anyone other than from the Arab and Muslim governments, their Muftis and other clerics. The overwhelming majority of Muslim clerics interpret and use provisions in Muslim text books to justify their repressive actions against their voiceless populations. Read more: www.cdhr.info

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