CIAO DATE: 03/2014
August 2013
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
For decades the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been America’s indispensable ally in the Middle East, and the Kingdom’s stability remains vital for US strategic interests in the region. While antigovernment protests in the Kingdom’s Sunni-majority regions have been small and sporadic in the wake of Arab Spring, there has been an unremitting unrest in the strategic Eastern Province, home to Saudi Arabia’s marginalized Shi’ite minority and major oil fields. As in the 1980s, if government repression and discrimination push the Shi’ites to extremes, some may resort to violence and terrorism, jeopardizing American interests in the region, benefitting Iran and al-Qaeda, disrupting the equilibrium of global oil markets, and adversely affecting economic recovery in the West. To ensure lasting stability in the Kingdom, the United States must work with the Saudi government to achieve gradual but meaningful reforms that include integrating the Shi’ites into the Kingdom’s sociopolitical system.
Resource link: Saudi Arabia's forgotten Shi'ite Spring [PDF] - 256K