PBS FRONTLINE: HOUSE OF SAUD PART 5 OF 6
The US-Saudi Relationship
The 9/11 terror attack (15 of the 19 terrorists were Saudis), the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Iraq war, the U.S.'s call for greater reform in the kingdom -- all have strained the sixty-year-old U.S.-Saudi alliance. Here discussing the tensions, and offering some larger thoughts on how the two countries can go forward, are former U.S. ambassador Robert Jordan, journalist Robert Lacey, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, and Saudi attorney and reform activist Bassim Alim. These excerpts are from their extended interviews.
The Most Pivotal Issue
A look at the force of religion in Saudi Arabia, its dominant faith, Wahhabism, and the power of the religious establishment, the ulama. Drawn from FRONTLINE's interviews with former U.S. ambassadors to Saudi Arabia Hermann Eilts and Robert Jordan; Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Saleh al-Asheikh; journalist Robert Lacey; and Dr. Khalil al-Khalil, from the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University.
What is Saudi Arabia's Future?
In a dangerously shifting society, can the House of Saud adjust to change without jeopardizing its own survival? Here are views from journalist Robert Lacey, former U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan, attorney and reform activist Bassim Alim, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
Who Are the Islamists?
A Sept. 2004 briefing (pdf file, 540k) by International Crisis Group that examines the genealogy of Saudi Arabia's various Islamist groupings, the "new Islamists" pressing for change, and the growing rift between violent and non-violent activists. This report includes a chronology of the most recent violence and a summary of Al Qaeda's organizational structure on the Arabian Peninsula.
