The King Versus The Radicals

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One example of this strategy has been Abdullah's drive for WTO membership, which has forced the country to open markets to international competition, cancel monopolies, drop some parts of its boycott of Israel and institute significant transparency measures for both public and private institutions. As Robert Lacey—author of "The Kingdom," the definitive book on modern Saudi history—explains, "you do what you can to reform the system, but sometimes you have to take shortcuts—go right around the obstacle. You have to find a secular organization to do that."

That's where Aramco comes in. Forcing the company from its self-imposed exile in the Eastern Province, Abdullah has tasked it with setting up a radical new institution—the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)—that he hopes will "serve as a bridge between people and cultures … and benefit all of mankind," as he said at the school's groundbreaking in October. Abdullah plans to use the university to propel reform and improve learning in a country that had no Ministry of Higher Education until 1975, that spends less than a quarter of 1 percent of its GDP on scientific research (compared with 2.6 percent by the United States) and that, as recently as 2003, had only eight universities for a population of more than 22 million (by comparison, Israel, with a third the population, has 35). "You're talking about a country where people who still don't believe in evolution or that we went to the moon," says Thomas Lippman, author of "Inside the Mirage: America's Fragile Partnership With Saudi Arabia" and a scholar at the Middle East Institute.

Abdullah has more than tripled the country's education budget to more than $15 billion annually and authorized the opening of more than 100 new universities and colleges in the past four years. But there's only so much that can be done within a system firmly controlled by the Wahhabis, who care more about churning out imams than educating scientists and businessmen. The clergy were given an even stronger hand by King Fahd after fundamentalists seized the Grand Mosque in 1979. This explains why the current king chose to give KAUST to Aramco. "The king had a vision, and he said to me, 'Ali, you build that university'," says Ali al-Naimi, Aramco's chairman and the minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. "Giving it to Aramco means the university will not be run by social-retrograde personalities from the Wahhabi establishment and students won't be spending their time studying glosses of the Qur'an," says Lippman.

Indeed, the new school will be nothing short of revolutionary. Men and women will study side by side and with teachers of both genders—a first for Saudi Arabia. The curriculum will be designed by Western consultants rather than religious authorities, and KAUST will host students and faculty from around the world. The idea is to turn the campus, located on the Red Sea less than two hours from Mecca, into a veritable oasis, free from most of the restrictions that apply to the rest of the country. The university's budget will be controlled by an independent international board of trustees and the school will be advised by administrators from Cornell, the Imperial College of London and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. KAUST has already awarded fellowships to visiting professors from MIT, Oxford and Caltech and signed student-exchange deals with Stanford and Texas A&M. And its massive endowment—supplied by the king personally—will instantly make it the sixth richest university on the planet.

Abdullah's larger goal in turning KAUST over to Aramco is clear. So is the symbolism. The university "will lead to a transformation of society," says al-Naimi, the Aramco chairman. "Life on campus will be free; scholars can dream, think and innovate with a lot of freedom." As Sadad al-Husseini, a former executive vice president of Aramco, explains, "The king is a man of few words—he likes his gestures to do his talking. On the spectrum of Saudi institutions, Aramco clearly falls on the liberal side. The king is saying that he is on that side, and he wants that side to take on a significant role in the country." Aramco CFO Abdullatif al-Othman says, "Sometimes to introduce change in society, you need to have a model. The king wants KAUST to be a model others will follow."

Vast funds and a royal imprimatur don't guarantee success, however. Aramco has been involved in infrastructure projects before, but most of those have been directly related to oil or to the company's own needs in the Eastern Province. This will be its first totally non-oil-related venture. And KAUST's location in Thuwal, a port less than 80km from Jidda, will be Aramco's first major outpost in the western half of the country.

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Despite the many errors in this article, the underlying premise is relatively accurate. Saudi Aramco is still called "Aramco" throughout Saudi Arabia and enjoys a certain "separate state" status within the country.. However, with Saudiation, its independent status has alteredsignificantly over the past 20 years, becoming less open and more vulnerable to extremeist incursions (decorative wreaths stolen from doors, holiday figurines stolen or desecrated, women joggers harrassed by bearded men - the dreaded Mutaween - in passing cars). However, the Dhahran compound (NOT Dammam) remaines the residence of choice for Western-educated Saudis with Western-educated wives. True, women are permitted to work, but the opportunities are increasingly limited to select positions within the company. Nearly all women working in the medical clinic are all veiled in the extreme: eyes only are visible. The "face" of the clinic is a vision of flowing black hostility.

Abdullah is too aware that, like Bush, he is a lame duck; he is the last of the absolute rulters. His successor must change the image of the Royal Family withint the country AND modernize the nation. a task that could result in his assassination.

It is worth remembering that the "Western" KFUPM - also built by and sited just outside Aramco - banned engineering classes in "Probability" because Allah controls all and it is not permissible to postulate what Allah will do. The Aramco television stations cease broadcasting during prayer breaks; the radio station censors music (imagine a C&W song with all mention of booze or broads bleeped!!) Sattelite TV became available only AFTER the establishment of the All-Islam channels; efforts to limit incoming "heathen" transmissions has failed, but effort is still underway to put that genie back in the bottle.

The Saudis are a tribal, hyper-religious, hypocritical populace that resist even 19th century norms within their tight boundaries. Muslims forbidden to drink will party happily outside the country but would be outraged to find a legal bar or nightclub in the Kingdom. Saudi men oogle women at in modest street clothes, drool over women in swimsuits, cover their ample girths with overstretched Speedos but keep "their women" literally under wraps. Saudi people will never permit the freedom of information, interaction, and social exchange common in classrooms even in the Islamic world; the concept of a Western university on Saudi terrirory is beyond comprehension.

Abdullah may found it and fund it, but will he or his successors be permitted to maintain it?

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Posted By: sebinns @ 05/27/2008 2:05:21 AM

I am a professor at KFUPM in the mathematics department studying Randomness. We also have an active teaching program in Probability. I don't know where GrayKat gets his information. KFUPM is a great university with an active research base and bright motivated students. I have taught at large state universities in the USA and KFUPM is comparible in the teaching load given to faculty and support for research.
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Posted By: GrayKat @ 05/23/2008 4:37:22 PM

Despite the many errors in this article, the underlying premise is relatively accurate. Saudi Aramco is still called "Aramco" throughout Saudi Arabia and enjoys a certain "separate state" status within the country.. However, with Saudiation, its independent status has alteredsignificantly over the past 20 years, becoming less open and more vulnerable to extremeist incursions (decorative wreaths stolen from doors, holiday figurines stolen or desecrated, women joggers harrassed by bearded men - the dreaded Mutaween - in passing cars). However, the Dhahran compound (NOT Dammam) remaines the residence of choice for Western-educated Saudis with Western-educated wives. True, women are permitted to work, but the opportunities are increasingly limited to select positions within the company. Nearly all women working in the medical clinic are all veiled in the extreme: eyes only are visible. The "face" of the clinic is a vision of flowing black hostility.

Abdullah is too aware that, like Bush, he is a lame duck; he is the last of the absolute rulters. His successor must change the image of the Royal Family withint the country AND modernize the nation. a task that could result in his assassination.

It is worth remembering that the "Western" KFUPM - also built by and sited just outside Aramco - banned engineering classes in "Probability" because Allah controls all and it is not permissible to postulate what Allah will do. The Aramco television stations cease broadcasting during prayer breaks; the radio station censors music (imagine a C&W song with all mention of booze or broads bleeped!!) Sattelite TV became available only AFTER the establishment of the All-Islam channels; efforts to limit incoming "heathen" transmissions has failed, but effort is still underway to put that genie back in the bottle.

The Saudis are a tribal, hyper-religious, hypocritical populace that resist even 19th century norms within their tight boundaries. Muslims forbidden to drink will party happily outside the country but would be outraged to find a legal bar or nightclub in the Kingdom. Saudi men oogle women at in modest street clothes, drool over women in swimsuits, cover their ample girths with overstretched Speedos but keep "their women" literally under wraps. Saudi people will never permit the freedom of information, interaction, and social exchange common in classrooms even in the Islamic world; the concept of a Western university on Saudi terrirory is beyond comprehension.

Abdullah may found it and fund it, but will he or his successors be permitted to maintain it?
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- Report Abuse
Posted By: British Bloke @ 05/22/2008 10:16:22 AM

Several more corrections. 1) Almost all expatriates and most middle class Saudis have access to satelite TV. 2) Although there is some censorship, most websites can be accessed from within the Kingdom. 3) The correct term for the replacement of expatriaes by nationals is "Sauization", not "Sauify". 4) Far from hiding in a small enclave in the Eastern Province, Aramco and subsequently Saudi Aramco have built major facilties in most regions of the Kingdom and have been supervising the construction of schools on behalf of the government for 30-40 years. You should get someone who has spent time in the country to vet your articles before you print.