The Economist puff piece on Saudi Arabia

"Even the most downtrodden, such as the suppressed minority Shia in the east or the activists locked up simply for calling for reform, think they are better off than they would be in Syria or Libya." As someone who communicates regularly with Saudi dissidents, in Qatif and elsewhere, I can tell you categorically that I have not ever encountered more bitter antipathy to House of Saudi than among the people of the Eastern province.