Saudi Arabia: riddle of the regime | beyondbrics – FT.com

The protests rocking ruling regimes in the Middle East have raised concerns – especially in the energy sector – about whether they will spread to Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.

The kingdom, the Arab world’s biggest economy, is grappling with similar issues to Egypt, albeit on a much smaller scale: a growing young population, nearly one third of whom are between the age of 15 and 30; an official unemployment rate of 10 per cent; rising inflation; and a shrinking middle class. But will the kingdom be the next to be shaken? Unlikely.

Western and Saudi analysts do not expect Egypt’s experience to be repeated in a country that has only been experimenting with freedom of expression since 2005 when King Abdullah came to power.