Saudi Arabia so far has maintained stability largely due to its prosperous economy, but worsening unrest in other parts of the Gulf region might exacerbate local discontent. To prevent potential unrest, King Abdullah recently announced a series of benefits for Saudi citizens amounting to $10.7 billion. Yet, in the long term, stability will depend on to what extent the Saudi Kingdom will respond to its citizens' demands for political reform.

In some ways, the unrest has offered a rare opportunity for religious extremists to re-enter the public fray. Shortly after the widespread breakout of protests, Iran launched its own interpretation about the events, calling the current regional political movements a continuation of its own 1979 Islamic revolution, in particular against a U.S. presence in the Middle East. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that the main cause of the demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt nations was the humiliation the countries' people suffered due to their governments' servitude to the United States. Iran's mainstream newspaper Tehran Times even published an article listing nine similarities between ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and the deposed Shah of Iran.

Despite these claims, however, the movements have in no way signified a resurgence of religious extremism. In fact, key religious groups Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and Ennahdha, the formerly-banned religious group of Tunisia have had limited involvement in the political upheavals. The Muslim Brotherhood, which originally alarmed the U.S., kept a low profile during the protests and said it would not join in the contest for Egypt's next president, although it did state it would offer candidates for Egypt's new parliamentary elections.

On the street, it seems that few ordinary people in the Middle East would desire to live in a theocracy. One Tunisian jazz musician interviewed said he has no love for the former Ben Ali government and believes that Tunisia will remain a land of beer and bikinis.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn For more information please visit http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/node_7075400.htm

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