2022 World Affairs Council of the Year
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Global Dialogue: International Affairs Speakers Program
Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at a Crossroad
Tuesday,September 22, 2020 at 7:00pm CT (8:00pm ET)
David Rundell
United States Foreign Service (Retired)
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
Tuesday,September 22, 2020 at 7:00pm CT (8:00pm ET)
Something extraordinary is happening in Saudi Arabia. A traditional, tribal society once known for its lack of tolerance is rapidly implementing significant economic and social reforms. An army of foreign consultants is rewriting Saudi Arabia’s social contract, King Salman is cracking down hard on corruption, and his dynamic though inexperienced son, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is promoting a more tolerant brand of Islam. But is all this a new vision for Saudi Arabia or merely a mirage likely to dissolve into a more autocratic police state or an Iranian-style religious revolution?
About the Book “Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at a Crossroad”
David H. Rundell – widely regarded as one of America’s foremost experts on Saudi Arabia – explains why the country has been so surprisingly stable for so long, is less stable today, and what is likely to happen there in the future. “Vision or Mirage” demystifies the world’s last strategically important absolute monarchy. It will prove valuable to anyone interested in global energy markets, the Arab-Israeli conflict, counterterrorism or regional stability in the Middle East.
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Questions in Advance
We invite your questions during this interactive Webinar. Please feel free to send questions in advance to: Webinars@TNWAC.org
About David Rundell
David H. Rundell served as an American diplomat for thirty years in Washington, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Over those three decades he spent fifteen years in the kingdom working at the Embassy in Riyadh as well as the Consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran. His assignments in Saudi Arabia included the Chief of Mission, Charge d’Affaires, Deputy Chief of Mission, Political Counselor, Economic Counselor, Commercial Counselor, and Commercial Attaché. This is an unrivaled record of single-country concentration for an American diplomat, not only in Saudi Arabia, but in any country. He has won numerous awards for his analytical reporting, and participated in Operation Desert Storm, Saudi accession to the World Trade Organization and the defeat of the al-Qaeda terror campaign in Saudi Arabia. He lives in Dubai and London, travels regularly to Saudi Arabia and is a partner in the consulting firm Arabia Analytica,
About the Moderator
LCDR Patrick Ryan, USN (Ret) is a native of New York City. He enlisted in the Navy at age 17 and volunteered for submarine duty. He served aboard nuclear fast attack and ballistic missile boats during the Cold War, rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer. In 1982 he was commissioned and served aboard a cruiser in the Western Pacific before becoming a Navy Intelligence Officer. Ryan served aboard the carrier Constellation in the Pacific, the Joint Staff Intelligence Directorate in the Pentagon, the Center for Naval Analysis, and the Intelligence Directorate of U.S. Central Command. Ryan retired from the Navy in 1998 and worked as a consultant on Intelligence Community projects and as the VP/COO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. Ryan ran a newsletter publishing business on international affairs from 1999-2016. He founded the Tennessee World Affairs Council in 2007. Among the newsletters he published and edited was the U.S.-Saudi Information Service.
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