This aspect will make reforming KSA into a constitutional monarchy very difficult because the minor branches of al-Saud would be forced to give up their most effective lever of influence if a formal line of succession was to be established. The net result for the U.S. being that a period of instability seems very likely in Saudi-American relations because the internal political needs of the al-Saud are going to predominate over external diplomatic considerations
UPDATE:
From Crossroads Arabia – ” Looking down the Road“
From The Daily Demarche – ” Majesty, they are your windows to the civilized world“
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collounsbury:
August 9th, 2005 at 10:22 am
Not bad. I note Wikepedia contacts some small errors, the most trivial of which is that it misrenders Al Saoud as As-Saoud. The Al Saoud (which is correctly rendered in Arabic) is a seperate form from as-Saoud. There the Al (or better Aal, but that looks weird) here is a signifier for tribe or family (like Al Sabah, the Sabah of Kuwait).
Trivial Arabic grammar…..
Most interestingly, in poking around to refresh my memory I found there is an Arabic lang wikepedia: http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B2_%D8%A2%D9%84_%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF
mark:
August 9th, 2005 at 2:05 pm
Thank you Col.
“Aal” would be the phonetic pronunciation of ” Al” or the correct written transliteration ?
Wiki is a convenient link for blogging or a fast reference but its open system of editing has the drawback of letting semi-knowlegeable but hyper-motivated individuals impose their idiosyncratic take. As a result, I see a lot of things in my field of expertise in Wikipedia that while not flatly wrong, are overemphasized over more important aspects. But for a basic intro it is handy.
collounsbury:
August 9th, 2005 at 3:21 pm
Regarding translit, hooh. Correct in what system? The Arabic written version of the word Al contains a “diacritic” that indicates the Aleph cares a long A, and while typical pronounciation might not differentiate strongly, one should give a longer vocalisation.
So, “Aal” might marginally more correctly render the word, but it’s a pretty picky point I confess – plus it just looks bizarre. On the other hand it does prevent confusion with “Al” which is ‘the.’
The ‘error’ I noted is simply the incorrect glossing of Al Saoud as Al-Saoud (i.e. prefixed by the simple “Al” which is “the” and which would be pronounced as-Saoud), versus the seperate word Aal (or Al, meaning family/tribe) which would not.
There are a few items overall there, but I am no Saudi specialist….
mark:
August 10th, 2005 at 2:55 am
“There are a few items overall there, but I am no Saudi specialist….”
You’ll have to do until one comes along ;o)