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he declared, "[i]f we do not declare a general mobilization--we will lose this
war on terrorism."
19
Saudi Arabia is a troubled country. Although regarded as very wealthy, in
fact per capita income has dropped from $28,000 at its height to the present
level of about $8,000. Social and religious traditions complicate adjustment to
modern economic activity and limit employment opportunities for young
Saudis.Women find their education and employment sharply limited.
President Clinton offered us a perceptive analysis of Saudi Arabia, contend-
ing that fundamentally friendly rulers have been constrained by their desire to
preserve the status quo. He, like others, made the case for pragmatic reform
instead. He hopes the rulers will envision what they want their Kingdom to
become in 10 or 20 years, and start a process in which their friends can help
them change.
20
There are signs that Saudi Arabia's royal family is trying to build a consensus
for political reform, though uncertain about how fast and how far to go. Crown
Prince Abdullah wants the Kingdom to join the World Trade Organization to
accelerate economic liberalization. He has embraced the Arab Human Develop-
ment Report, which was highly critical of the Arab world's political, economic,
and social failings and called for greater economic and political reform.
21
Cooperation with Saudi Arabia against Islamist terrorism is very much in
the U.S. interest. Such cooperation can exist for a time largely in secret, as it
does now, but it cannot grow and thrive there. Nor, on either side, can friend-
ship be unconditional.
Recommendation:The problems in the U.S.-Saudi relationship must
be confronted, openly. The United States and Saudi Arabia must
determine if they can build a relationship that political leaders on
both sides are prepared to publicly defend--a relationship about more
than oil. It should include a shared commitment to political and eco-
nomic reform, as Saudis make common cause with the outside world.
It should include a shared interest in greater tolerance and cultural
respect, translating into a commitment to fight the violent extrem-
ists who foment hatred.
12.3
PREVENT THE CONTINUED GROWTH OF
ISLAMIST TERRORISM
In October 2003, reflecting on progress after two years of waging the global
war on terrorism, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asked his advisers:"Are
we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than
the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying
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