The recipe for Saudi Arabia to contain the spread to its territory in the riots of the “Arab spring” that began six months ago, has three ingredients: strong hand, intensified diplomatic activity and increasingly huge amounts of money on social assistance .
Outside, the Saudi authorities are driving something like the “counter-revolutionary internationalism” and are work on several diplomatic fronts to prevent the triumph of the uprisings in the region, especially in the Arabian Peninsula. And especially the ones against monarchies.
Domestically, Riyadh has been to work to spend billions on social assistance, especially in housing development and job creation (in the Ministry of Interior) -.
They are using this formula to try to prevent revolt because of the high unemployment (10% according to official figures, 20% according to other calculations). Meanwhile, the country politics remain the same, being one of the most closed and where there is less freedom in the world.
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Tea and Politics 