After three months abroad for medical treatment, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah returned home Wednesday to a Middle East shaken by unrest, announcing a series of sweeping measures aimed at relieving economic hardship and meeting with Bahrain's beleaguered monarch.
King Abdullah's gestures of largess are not uncommon in a time of celebration, but the large scale of the measures -- the boost in spending amounts to billions of dollars -- raised the prospect of an attempt to stave off the kind of revolts that have engulfed neighboring nations.
Undoubtedly, the Saudis are concerned about events in the region, especially in bordering Bahrain and Yemen. But Boucek said the Saudi government is much more apt to use methods of co-opting or persuasion than to use brutal force to quell opposition voices.
Adding to the Saudi dilemma is that soon the kingdom will have to deal with a pending transition of leadership, now composed of elderly men.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/23/saudi.king/index.html
By Annie Hung
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