(Weekly Standard) Irfan al-Alawi and Stephen Schwartz - By refusing support to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood administration of deposed president Mohamed Morsi, Riyadh has found itself allied with Egyptian liberals and secularists, in apparent incongruity with its fundamentalist Wahhabi legacy. In addition, Saudi Arabia is more outspoken than any other Arab country in challenging Iranian ambitions. Both postures are often characterized by Westerners as driven by raw fear - in the first instance, by worry that the rebellions of the Arab Spring would spill across Saudi borders and threaten the ruling caste, and, in the second, by Saudi Sunni rivalry with Tehran's Shias, as claimants to global guidance for Muslims.
2013-10-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive