Saudi Arabia is a powder keg waiting to explode. It might hold together for some time yet, but an explosion will certainly come. When that happens, the impact on the world will be serious.
Saudi Arabia has a quarter of the world's oil reserves. The coastal strip from Kuwait to Qatar contains forty percent of the oil reserves.
This enormous reserve capacity has allowed the Saudis to control the price of oil, preventing it from escalating.
The nation's 4431 km land border and 2641 km shoreline are indefensible. Smugglers have a long history of easy access.
Saudi Arabia has gone from being medieval to modern in fifty years. Riyadh grew from a population of 30,000 to 4 million in a few decades. The population now doubles every thirty years and half the population is under sixteen.
The Saudi regime is very harsh. The nation has the world record for public beheadings.
The current government is dysfunctional. The royal family is divided by jealousy and palace intrigues are common.
The royal family is totally immoral. Corruption is widespread and bribery is pervasive. They use their political power to rob innocent people of homes and business.
Oil wealth is used for the personal benefit of the royal family. There are over 30,000 royal princes, each receiving a large allowance. Their extravagant lifestyle, with lavish palaces, yachts, private jets and houses on the Rivera, contrasts dramatically with the poverty of the rest of the population. Their number is growing so fast that the country can no longer afford them.
Per capita income has halved in the last two decades as the population has grown and oil income has been reduced by falling prices.
An alliance between the Wahhabi clerics and the House of Saud maintains them both in power. The Saudi Royal family has financed the Wahhabis, in return for their silence about their immorality. The Wahhabis have exported revolution throughout the world.
When the Moslem Brotherhood was expelled from Egypt and Syria, they settled in Saudi Arabia. They have become entrenched in the nation's universities and Madrasahs.
Saudi youth are educated in the Madrasahs (Islamic schools). They have learned Islam, but have no modern skills. Two out of three doctorates are in Islamic studies. They are educated for a world that no longer exists. Many are unemployed and have no hope. They have nothing better to do than sit around the mosque or watch al-Jazeera. They are a ripe breeding ground for radical Islam.
Saudi Arabia operates the world's most advanced welfare state, providing Saudi citizens with free health care and interest-free loans. College education is free within the kingdom and heavily subsidised for those who study abroad. In one of the world's driest spots, water is almost free. Electricity, domestic air travel, petrol and telephone services are all available at far below cost.
About a quarter of Saudi Arabia's population are foreign nationals, allowed into the kingdom to do the dirty work in the oil fields or to be domestics, but also to program computers and manager the refineries. Seven out of ten jobs are filled by foreigners because Saudis choose not to do them.
The Saudi Shia live in the Eastern Province where most of the oil is found. The majority of workers in the Aramco, the Saudi Oil Company, are Shia. They have been subject to Wahhabi persecution and often much of their property has been seized.
Several terrorist attacks have already occurred in the capital Ridayh and an attack caused damage to the Saudi oilfields.
American companies have sold enormous volumes of armaments to Saudi Arabia. If the enormous stockpiles of weapons got into the wrong hands, they could be very dangerous. Islamic radicals have already infiltrated the military and there are doubts about their loyalty.
American political organisations and think tanks have received funding from Saudi Arabia. Many American companies have paid commissions (bribes) to Saudi princes to obtain business. Because they have sold out, these groups remain silent about Saudi injustice and immorality.
Saudi Arabian oil is essential for the health of the world economy, but its flow is far from secure. The combination of a corrupt government, growing population, radicalised youth and stockpiled weapons make it into a time bomb that is waiting to explode. When that explosion happens, the United States will not stand by while the world's oil supplies disappear. It will invade Saudi Arabia to secure its supply of oil.
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