Saudi Arabia's royal family is so entrenched that the oil-rich kingdom it rules bears the family name. But that doesn't make the House of Saud immune to the wave of anti-government protests roiling the region. Already there are reports of protests in the oil-producing Eastern Province, and a planned March 11 "day of rage" is gaining steam on Facebook. Could Saudi Arabia be the next Arab government to fall?
Saudi Arabia can weather this storm: Saudi leaders are clearly nervous, and with good reason, says Rachel Bronson in The Washington Post. But they probably "won't find themselves confronting revolutionaries at their own doorstep." Loyal family members head the security forces, there's no organized opposition, and the rich king has "goodies to spread around" to pacify the masses.
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