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A Kingdom's Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of Its Twentysomethingsdownload A Kingdom’s Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomethings by Caryle Murphy A Kingdom’s Future: S audi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomethings by Caryle Murphy WWW.WILSONCENTER.ORG/MIDDLEEAST Available from : Middle East Program Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004-3027 www.wilsoncenter.org/middleeast ISBN: 978-1-938027-10-9 THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS, established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center’s mission is to commemorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by providing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, discussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and international affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan institution engaged in the study of national and world affairs. It establishes and main- tains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. The Center is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly and home of Woodrow Wilson Center Press, dialogue radio and television. For more information about the Center’s activities and publications, please visit us on the web at www.wilsoncenter.org. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chairman of the Board Sander R. Gerber, Vice Chairman Jane Harman, Director, President and CEO Public members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; Hillary R. Clinton, Secretary, U.S. Department of State; G. Wayne Clough, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Arne Duncan, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education; David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States; Fred P. Hochberg, Chairman and President, Export- Import Bank; James Leach, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities; Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Private Citizen Members: Timothy Broas, John T. Casteen III, Charles Cobb, Jr., Thelma Duggin, Carlos M. Gutierrez, Susan Hutchison, Barry S. Jackson Wilson National Cabinet: Eddie & Sylvia Brown, Melva Bucksbaum & Raymond Learsy, Ambassadors Sue & Chuck Cobb, Lester Crown, Thelma Duggin, Judi Flom, Sander R. Gerber, Ambassador Joseph B. Gildenhorn & Alma Gildenhorn, Harman Family Foundation, Susan Hutchison, Frank F. Islam, Willem Kooyker, Linda B. & Tobia G. Mercuro, Dr. Alexander V. Mirtchev, Wayne Rogers, Leo Zickler Contents 1 Introduction 11 A Demographic Portrait 17 Connected to the World and to Each Other 27 Education Woes 41 Aspirations, Worries, Expectations 55 Politics 71 Religion 87 Women: Rights and Romance 109 Shiite Youth 121 To Be or Not to Be Like Everyone Else 135 The Wild Card: Students Abroad 7 14 The Future 159 Acknowledgments v CHAPTER 1 Introduction “One thing about our country, it’s run in a very patriarchal way. And in terms of longevity I don’t think that’s sustainable. The world is becoming more globalized. People are beginning to see what’s happening in other countries and they’re gonna want that. It’s not sustainable for you to keep feeding people whatever you want to feed them… It’s just not gonna happen.” —Riyadh woman recently graduated from Washington, D.C.-area university, 22 The casting call for Saudi comedians was posted on Facebook one day in 2009. “You don’t have to be an actor or good looking,” it said. “We just want… people of every shape and size… who are naturally charismatic, funny, unique [or] have personality.” More than 100 young Saudi men decided they fit that description and converged on a downtown Riyadh hotel to audition. Mostly in their twen- ties, many wore jeans and T-shirts. One had a tiny diamond stud in his left eyebrow and his moussed hair shaped into a stand-up comb. “They call me the rooster,” he joked. Several toted video recorders for making clips to post on YouTube. All were hoping to land a role in a pilot for a TV sitcom about a rock band. One young man, sporting a long pony tail down his back, played the guitar. Another impersonated a growling Robert de Niro because, he said, the actor “is funny to me.” Another youth—inexplica- bly—used his audition time to recite Shakespeare in Arabic. The cheeriness and intentional goofiness of these young Saudis, whom I met while working as a journalist in the kingdom, made them a striking contrast to their fellow nationals who horrifically seared America’s national psyche on September 11, 2001. For weeks after that day’s terrorist attacks 1 A Kingdom’s Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomethings in New York and Washington, mug shots of the 15 Saudis among the 19 suicide hijackers filled the media. Their glowering faces bespoke anger, bit- terness and, as we learned too late, a desire to destroy both themselves and as many Americans as possible. Their average age was 23. From 2008 to 2011, I was among a small band of resident foreign corre- spondents in Saudi Arabia. During those three years, I met scores of young Saudis. Like the wannabe comedians, they were far more representative of their country than the Saudi terrorists of 9/11. I interviewed them for arti- cles about the national education system, the ban on female drivers, the first female basketball team, the infamous Saudi religious police, mapping the camel genome, unemployment and volunteer work. We discussed al Qaeda, corruption, tribalism, love, marriage, divorce, Islam, gender segregation, obesity, their favorite pets, why they love the month of Ramadan, how they miss movie theaters and the problem of fathers who refuse to let their adult daughters marry because they want the women’s paychecks. I also collected silly questions that young Saudis get from foreigners, such as: “Does your family own an oil well?” Most young Saudis I met during my three years there bore no grudge against Americans or non-Muslims, though some attempted to convert me to Islam. They included bloggers, lawyers, journalists, film-makers, paint- ers, novelists and students. A couple confided that they aspire to become university presidents. One wants to run his own newspaper. Males be- moaned the huge cost of getting married; females, the lack of interesting men. Some youths were doing dangerous stuff like taking amphetamines or racing cars on city streets. Several young Saudis became close friends when they worked for me as inter- preters and assistants for extended periods. Five of them—three men and two women—are now pursuing higher degrees in the United States and Canada. A WAKENING YOUTH The Middle East’s recent cascade of epoch-shifting events known as the Arab Awakening has shifted its political center of gravity from an older generation steeped in an authoritarian mindset to a younger one eager for greater personal 2 Caryle Murphy liberty and individual autonomy. The youth of the Arab world are now the prime object of attention for anyone concerned about the region’s future. In all of the countries shaken up by the Arab Awakening—Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Morocco—it is young people who are seeking a new order that gives them more economic and political opportunities. But what of the nation that so far seems unperturbed by the Arab Awakening—to the great relief of the global oil market, as well as its most important, longtime ally, the United States? Saudi Arabia has weathered the storm of Arab youth discontent seem- ingly unscathed. This begs many questions about its young people—who make up a large part of the kingdom’s population. Indeed, it is quickly evident to visitors that the kingdom is a youth- ful place. Infants, toddlers and teens abound in shopping malls, parks and restaurants. Sixty-four percent of its 19.4 million citizens are under age 30. Those aged 12 to 16 are 12 percent of the population, making them the kingdom’s largest-ever “youth bulge.” If only by their sheer numbers, young Saudis will dramatically alter the kingdom over the coming two decades. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer, the spiritual home- land of Sunni Islam and a heavyweight in regional diplomacy and trade. It also is the economic and military powerhouse of the Gulf Cooperation Council, whose six member nations are ruled by hereditary monarchies and royal families. Socially and politically conservative, the GCC bloc is also youthful, with those under 25 comprising 54 percent of the re- gion’s population.1 It is crucial, therefore, to foresee as much as possible this strategic coun- try’s likely future path by examining its youth. What do they want? Where are they headed? What do they value? What are their aspirations? What do they consider their greatest challenges? How different are they from their Arab peers? Are they affected by the Arab Awakening? Why have they not rebelled? What differences exist among Saudi youths themselves? The answers to such questions touch on many aspects of Saudi life that affect young people: education, family life, religion, an unemployment crisis, a deeply conformist culture, as well as new forces that are eroding that conformity, namely the Internet and its celebrated progeny: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 3 A Kingdom’s Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomethings Young Saudis clowning around outside a Riyadh hotel after auditioning for a TV sitcom pilot (Caryle Murphy) How much Saudi Arabia changes, or is forced to change, in the years ahead will depend to a large extent on its young people.
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