- Neil Patrick says, “All in all, substantive Saudi reform is largely illusive.” That’s debatable. What is not debatable is that many of the changes made since 2005 lack an institutional basis and have not captured our imagination, mine at least.
- I was interviewed by Swedish television a while I ago. I said things. Jameel al-Theyabi, editor of the Saudi edition of al-Hayat daily, said things, too. I don’t think that Moroccan journalist Mohammed al-Jama’ai wears a suit to work everyday. That’s not my laptop, I’m a Mac. I hate the adjective ‘absolutely.’ What else? Oh, I’m not religious.
4 thoughts on “Illusive reform, Swedish TV interview”
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Absolutely agree on the reforms status and on hating the word…
Very nice interview, and excellent word choices.
Presumably to solidify reforms they will need to acquire and institutional basis that makes their reversal “difficult”. I hope that positive substantive reforms achieve that.
I didn’t know how to comment when it first appeared, for technical reasons. POST A COMMENT didn’t appear.
You don’t have to say that in Saudi Arabia. I am not religious either, and people know it, but I never say it (unless it is anonymous, like now). It’s like admitting something wrong, it disappoints those who like you, and it makes your enemies happy.
When a writer expresses his/her religious views, we just see how they describes themselves, not what they are. We can only tell what they are from what they write.
As a matter of fact, I think you felt you made a mistake at the interview by being too frank and your pride made you make it more public.
Nice interview! I tried to find a blog written by saudis about sweden and ended up here. It seems to me that either all swedish saudis are hiding, or no-one finds anything to write about….
Anyway, i read your blog from time to time, and find it very interesting, keep up the good work!