Can Saudi Arabia prevent a 'day of rage'?

Activists plan to press for political and social reforms on Friday. Will the House of Saud face an uprising like the ones that have rattled the region?

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, using a figure of speech, said the kingdom would "cut off any finger," raised against the regime.
(Image credit: Corbis)

Saudi Arabia's royal family is pulling out all the stops to prevent Friday's scheduled "day of rage" from exploding. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal warned that protests are not allowed, and urged reform advocates to embrace "the principle of dialogue," not revolt. To be on the safe side, the government has moved thousands of extra troops to potential hot spots. Will this be enough to avert an uprising? (Watch a Fox News discussion about the "day of rage")

No. Brace for chaos: Saudi Arabia, which permits zero dissent, is "the most tyrannical authoritarian regime in the Arab world," says Eric Blair at Hamsayeh. Even King Abdullah's "hastily-crafted $35 billion social aid package" failed to quiet "the revolutionary whispers" that have sent Saudi stocks plummeting and oil prices soaring, on fears that chaos will disrupt shipments of Saudi crude. It looks to many analysts like "the Saudi regime is the next to fall."

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