SAUDI ARABIA
I have to confess, I didn’t even realize Biography was still on the air. Apparently it is, and it is currently on a channel I have never heard of called “FYI”. This relatively recent episode of the series focuses not on just one person but on the entire Saudi royal family, from the founding of the country to the modern day. It does not gloss over the family’s love/hate relationship with with extremist Islam, while on the other side it finds several Western academics willing to say glowing things about the leadership of this Middle Eastern monarchy. Saudi Arabia is not a Western-style constitutional monarchy, the King definitely is running things. The episode makes the case that, while Saudi Arabia is a throw-back in many ways, it could be even less modern without the influence of its kings. One incident recounted involves when King Faisal insisted on allowing television into the country (in 1964), which resulted in riots because the religious old guard in the country insisted that no technology from after the time of Muhammad should be allowed. And these were some pretty serious riots... the King’s nephew was killed. Years later, that nephew’s brother would assassinate King Faisal, possibly in revenge. As ties between Saudi Arabia’s royal family and terrorism have been once again making headlines, this is worth a watch.
