Flickr/Mopaw Foundation. All rights reserved.As the United States prepared for war in response to the 9/11 attacks, the late Fouad Ajami issued a prescient warning: “There will be chameleons good at posing as America’s friends but never turning up when needed.” Saudi Arabia’s absence from the war on ISIS would appear to be the latest example of this frustrating quality. But describing the Saudi royal family as “chameleons” is insufficient for explaining why their behavior is so hard to grasp. A better metaphor can be found in Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novel about a split personality, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
In Stevenson’s novel, Dr Jekyll is torn between decency and irresistible evil, a problem he tries to resolve with a drug that transforms him back and forth at will into the murderous Mr Hyde. Unfortunately, Dr Jekyll starts running out of the drug he needs to make the switch, and Mr Hyde eventually takes over completely. Finally, investigators uncover a corpse with Hyde’s hideous features, dressed in Jekyll’s clothing, an apparent victim of suicide. Let us see how far this metaphor can take us in making sense of the House of Saud. Then we can turn to considering what one may hope is a crucial difference between Stevenson’s tragic tale and the reality of the Saudi Kingdom.
Let’s call the international relations version of Stevenson’s novel: “Dr Saud and Mr Jihad.” Our protagonist, Dr Saud, rules over a land containing more oil than anywhere else on earth. He is seen as a friend of the United States, which joins him in hoping that his great wealth will contribute to peace and prosperity for both their peoples. Dr Saud wants to live the good life, and loves the amazing attractions of the modern west. He also enjoys his role as the guardian of the holiest places in Islam. Hostile neighbours periodically threaten to deprive Dr Saud of these pleasures: first the Soviet communists, then the ayatollahs of Iran, then Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Fortunately, the powerful United States had offered to stand guard over his kingdom; when those enemies lusted after Dr Saud’s oil, America sent its awesome military to protect him.
