Is Saudi Arabia The Next Crisis?

Next Up In The Middle East Mess? Saudi Arabia’s Succession Fight. -- Karen Elliott House, Washington Post

From afar, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia appears immune from the turmoil and uncertainty engulfing nations such as Syria, Egypt and Libya. But rather than being an oasis of stability in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is nearing its own crisis point.

The elderly sons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, who have ruled sequentially since his death in 1953, are approaching the end of the line. And as that happens, the future of this kingdom on which the world depends for oil has never been more precarious.

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My Comment: The reason why unrest will probably occur in Saudi Arabia is best summed up by this paragraph ....

.... The three historic pillars of Saudi stability are cracking. Massive oil revenue, which has bought public passivity, is threatened by peaked production and sharply increased domestic energy consumption. A supportive Wahhabi Islamic establishment that bestowed legitimacy on the House of Saud is increasingly fractious and is losing public credibility. And now, the royal family is in danger of division as it is forced to confront generational succession.

I am not sorry to see the Wahhabi Islamic establishment in decline, but the other factors are important .... and they are changing. And in the Middle eEst .... change usually results in massive unrest.