Because of American sanctions on Russia they are becoming self sufficient

IDK much about the Saudis but China is getting closer but as always they arnt playing by the wests rules

Their economic participation is more merchantile than it is free market

Define saudi arabia getting closer to the west
tell me, where are the gay parades and sexual education of kids in kinder garden

i dont see that happening in KSA

Obviously not, but Western pressure is still present, I mean they now allow women to drive, trying to be more open to tourist, etc.

>they only allow women to drive in the presence of their husband

The fact that it relies on the American Empire for protection should mean that there is definitely alot of pressure to liberalize

And, don't forget, Saudi Arabia is now being more friendly to Israel in the name of fighting Iran

>why would a tourist go to a tyranical dictatorship and possibley get arrested over breaking some trivial law

Before the KSD had a ace in the oil trade so they could resist the American Empires social demands but now the US has the shale revolution

that blocker is gone

exactly

Now US protection comes at a price

their valuable resource has alot less weight than it did when they originally allied economically

Keep in mind the americans will still protect saudi arabia because of the petro dollar and saudi control of OPEC

@vexmasina44 It is possible they can exempt tourists of that law if tourism becomes too profitable. Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify their economy with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

despite the shale oil

It seems that while they have bribed Global interest with Oil concessions, Global interest isnt too keen on just the Oil concessions and want political leverage as well for protection

I doubt anyone would want to visit that hellhole for any reason

Many already go to the UAE for Tourism (Dubai)

not to metnion that saudi arabia is getting bombed and destroyed by fucking yemen
which is poorer and smaller than KSA itself

And the Americans have other concerns than oil when it comes to currency now

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Saudi_Arabia

there are real compeditors to the greenback emerging

UAE is a completly different beast compared to KSA

tbh not even the emiratis like the saudis

The petro dollar system is under threat from ouside factors now. The money men dont seem to know what to do about it either.
there is alot of burying of heads in sand

>go to saudi arabia
>get killed by a yemeni ballistic missile/drone attack
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Pretty sure most of that tourism is religous though

Mecca is in the KSD after all

3 Million Mecca Visits a year, 16 Million Visits in just 2017

Stewardship of Mecca is the only reason why the House of Saud is tolerated

both mecca and medina are closed to non muslims
northeast of KSA is closed aswell because of shia natives are restless
but you wont hear that on the news

KSA does have a shia minority that coinicidentally located near their largest oil fields

@McFansy the only reason the house of saud is tolerated is because of american and NATO protection. if USA was gone tomorrow the iranians would curbstomp the saudis without a second thought

within the Sunni Muslim world

not even at that
pretty much all their neighbours hate them

except bahrain which was invaded and is now a puppet state

That only furthers the incentive to liberalize tbh

for protection