"History in the making"

Press release from Effat College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Effat College hosted the well-known urban designer David Sucher on Wednesday 27, 2008 as a guest speaker at the architecture fair of students' projects. This event is held under the patronage of Her Royal Highnesses Princess Lulwa Al-Faisal the Vice Chair of Board of Trustees and the General Supervisor of Effat College. This gathering was attended by a bright list of architect names, including the Saudi pioneering architects in Jeddah and held at the new state-of-art Architecture building.

This event's honour guest, David Sucher, is a wide sighted urban planner with remarkable contributions in various sectors.

No, it was hardly my talk which was "history in the making." One of the Saudi men at my talk made sure I understood that I was "seeing history in the making" — I was speaking to the very first class of women architecture students in Saudi Arabian history. That's change in Saudi Arabia and he was justly proud of it.

And in fact that constant murmur of "reform" and "change" and "modernization" was one of the most interesting things I noticed. In My Saudi Sojourn Joshua Muravchik characterizes Saudi Arabia as "a vast battleground between antiquity and modernity." That's the sense I got, too. Lots of talk; whether there is real action could only be judged by someone who knows more about Saudi Arabia than I do.

From top (The King) to bottom (well maybe not bottom as I had no contact with any but upper-middle or upper-class Saudis) there is this air of "something happening." Exactly what that means was never clear to me. But something, amidst the sullen shabby street, is supposed happening. I am told that it is driven from the top-down because the most senior Royals know that Saudi Arabia must change. If that is true, which would be nice to think, I hope that the Royals fully-grasp what change means and will not pull-back in surprise and reaction when change rears ups and surprises them unpleasantly, which it inevitably must. I hope they see that economic growth — and we can discuss the scenarios I see later — must inevitably also (though it mat be decades or more) bring about vast demands for open communication. And the Saudi have no choice but to seek economic growth beyond oil; even they don't have the money to keep all their young people quiescent.

Of course it will be a long trip. I spoke with one bright young businessman. Somehow the subject of media freedom was broached. (Not by me.) He said that it was all fine in Saudi Arabia and everyone was happy. I asked about "that blogger in jail." (If you don't know who I mean: No freedom for 'dean of Saudi bloggers'.) But this young man knew exactly who I meant and said "But that's different." There wasn't the time or place to follow-up. But I sensed — and I sense it from others — a certain air of being "in denial" about how far they will be traveling.