Saudi Arabia: Social Liberalization a Prerequisite to Economic Reforms

Saudi Arabia's monarch, King Abdullah, has said that Riyadh will proceed with economic reforms, Arab News reported Jan. 21. The process of political and economic reform has reached the point at which any further progress will require changes to the kingdom's social fabric. Given the kingdom's adherence to the strict Salafi-Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam, calling such changes "difficult" is an understatement.