An ugly polemic. M. Murawiec does not do "nuance." Saudi Arabia is bad, very bad, the kernel of evil, and all the Saudis wear the proverbial "black gutra." In the entire 268 pages there is never the slightest hint that there is anything slightly positive about the Kingdom. M. Murawiec writes with all the simplicity of the early black and white westerns - there is only absolute good and evil - nothing in-between to cause the reader to actually think.

Much is revealed on page 1 in which he states that "today's Arabia is the joint offspring of..." and proceeds to list five external factors, such as "a pro-Nazi Englishman converted to Islam..." and minimizes the dominant internal factors that actually created the Kingdom. He exerts much effort in trying to equate the Saudis, and Islam, with either Nazism or Communism, so that the Western reader will realize this is one more (perpetual?) struggle that must be undertaken. For example, he has a penchant for inventing such phrases as the "Saudi Islamintern" which he compares with the Soviet Comintern (p.33). He even has an entire chapter entitled "Islamists of All Countries, Unite" (p.95). He alternates the communist threat analogies with the Nazi ones: "He (Ibn Saud) found himself in a situation comparable to that of Adolf Hitler in 1934...." (p.170), or, if you missed that point, he entitles an entire chapter: "1939: Hitler and Ibn Saud" (p.173). M. Murawiec's purple prose permeates the book: "this crowd of debtors, courtiers, and profiteers, this demimonde of middlemen and shady entrepreneurs, swindlers, procurers, moneychangers, and flatterers, forms the concentric circles surrounding the kernel of the royal family" (p. 32).... No comparisons with Washington DC are considered.

Has M. Murawiec ever visited Saudi Arabia? Has he even talked with one Saudi? It is unclear from the book, but the answer is probably NO. His real, quite limited knowledge of the Kingdom is revealed when he calls the eastern province not Al Hasa but "Hara", not once which could be a typo, but twice (p239) and (p241).

In his "Conclusions" section, among other demands he believes it appropriate for "the West" to demand of the Kingdom, he states that "Oil is Saudi by accident. The use that has been made of this black gold mine is so contrary to the public good that the international community owes it to itself to take it away from this abusive owner." Wow! And bring them civilization at the same time? The old imperialist drumbeat. We know what is best for these "natives" and ourselves.

The best insight into M. Murawiec's mindset can be obtained in the Epilogue. For all these pages he indicates how absolutely evil Saudi Arabia is, yet when he is invited to a conference there, he is quite ready to put on the "feedbag" and go.

It is an appalling commentary on the current policies of the United States that this author was actually requested, by Richard Pearle, to address the Defense Policy Board in 2002, where he gave an infamous presentation in which he advocated taking the "Saudi" our of "Saudi Arabia." For an understanding of the dynamics of Saudi Arabia, the book is utterly worthless, for those seeking an insight of those who advocate endless war, the book yields rich dividends. To quote from an old Bob Dylan song, M. Murawiec is indeed a Master of War.

As Patrick Claswon observed, Murawiec gave a 2002 briefing to the Defense Science Board that carried the provocative title "Taking Saudi out of Arabia," in which he advocated extremely tough pressure on the Saudi government concerning the involvement of Saudis in terrorism. When it leaked to the press, the uproar was so loud that President George W. Bush personally called Saudi crown prince Abdullah to emphasize that he rejected the content of the briefing--a remarkable reaction to a think-tank study. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also weighed in with denunciations. Murawiec was promptly fired by Rand.

With credentials like that, one would hope for much from Murawiec, and he does make some telling points. He nicely captures the Saudi ambition to dominate world Islam, including the depth of the rivalry between the Saudi Wahhabi clerics and Egypt's venerable Al-Azhar University.

But, alas, he is no expert on Saudi Arabia. For example, while many complaints can be made about the Saudi government's encouragement of radical Islam, it is hardly the case that Saudi charitable organizations are under the same degree of government control that the Soviet Union exercised over its pet peace movements, as the author contends. There are many extremely rich Saudis who feel a religious obligation to fund Islamic causes and, while they certainly listen to government guidance, they are acting independently and out of conviction--which was hardly the way that Soviet peace groups worked.

Another problem: Murawiec gets carried away in places, undermining the credibility of his account. It is quite a stretch to say that Saudi Arabia "has modernized nothing." Besides the vast improvement in material living standards, the kingdom has extended education to women and has built a media empire, ignoring objections by obscurantists. And Princes of Darkness suffers from peculiar organization. After 145 pages about contemporary Saudi support for terror groups, we are suddenly transported back 200 years for a history lesson lasting eighty pages. Both the earlier part on support for terror and the later part on history also contain within them abrupt jumps from one topic to another.

After the publicity coup from his Rand firing, Murawiec would have been the logical person to write a definitive book about Saudi connections to terrorism. Sadly, this is not that book.

Mr. Murawiec's defense-department briefing on Saudi Arabia in 2002 helped inform the premise of a newly released novel set in this influentional, Middle Eastern Kingdom: "Saudi Match Point". The book examines in one of its plotlines what might happen if the U.S. were to seize Saudi oil fields.

The novel is available at www.blacksmithbooks.com for ten dollars, which includes the cost of international shipping. It's a quick and enjoyable read.

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck" - In a world too much dominated by the force of the petro-dollars, Laurent Murawiec brings us a very courageous and straight-forward reminder about the difference between democracy and totalitarism. Ethics in World politics may be seen as naive, but the history (Munich agreements) also shows us differently.
This book is a warning to all Democracy's lovers. A must to all students of Politics and International Relations. It is also the reflection of our dirty collaboration with a powerful enemy, hopefully soon neutralised by the scientific advance in the field of alternative energies.

The author lays out a great deal of densely-detailed information about the intertwining of extreme fundamentalist Islam, Saudi royal culture and arrogance, oil, politics, and influence-buying. He makes an effective, infuriating case for the incestuous relationship the House of Saud has with leaders -- male leaders -- of US government and corporations. Murawiec convincingly points out how badly that is going to bite us in our vulnerable national rump very soon, and that leading politicians from both parties have no investment in doing anything about the looming mess. (They have invested elsewhere, using money generously donated by the Sauds.)

It is not 'balanced' or 'even-handed,' but frankly, I haven't seen a single book about Saudi-US relations, or Saudi royal leadership, which has anything positive to say. There may just be a very good reason for that. (After I read this I happened to pick up Jean Sasson's "Princess" about the appallingly restrictive lifestyle of even royal Saudi women -- hard to imagine two more different books with the same essential message and impact: at times both had me so angry I was nauseous.

The style is choppy and occasionally hard to follow, probably due to the translation from French. I also got the feeling he had to work to make the book a little broader than his usual think-tank analysis, and as a result he has an odd mix of solid sources and rather lighter-weight sources. Bottom line, definitely worth reading.

Mr. Murawiec's book is a detailed account of Saudi practices and policies. He names names; provides dates; and gives a blow by blow analysis of why the House of Saud, the ruling oligarchy of Saudi Arabia is an avowed enemy of the West and of the United States of America.
One can sense the frustration that Mr.Murawiec feels at the duplicity and outright evil machinations of the Saudis. This often comes out in a rather sneering tone in this book, which undermines the passionately real data that he gives over. It is one thing to castigate the al-Saud regime for financing and manipulating the terrorism of radical Islam all over the world, it is another thing to add the figurative "And I spit on you," that Mr. Murawiec often implies.
Nonetheless, this book is a complete and detailed list of the House of Saud's damning sins and manipulations. I would suggest that these other equally resourceful books should accompany any reader's analysis of Saudi Arabian history; goals; and political policies:
Hatred's Kingdom : How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism - by Dore Gold
The Age of Sacred Terror : Radical Islam's War Against America - by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
And (really - it's a decent, factual book that pulls no punches yet does not villify Saudi Arabia),
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Saudi Arabia by Colin Wells

Mr. Murawiec's book is a detailed account of Saudi practices and policies. He names names; provides dates; and gives a blow by blow analysis of why the House of Saud, the ruling oligarchy of Saudi Arabia is an avowed enemy of the West and of the United States of America.
One can sense the frustration that Mr.Murawiec feels at the duplicity and outright evil machinations of the Saudis. This often comes out in a rather sneering tone in this book, which undermines the passionately real data that he gives over. It is one thing to castigate the al-Saud regime for financing and manipulating the terrorism of radical Islam all over the world, it is another thing to add the figurative "And I spit on you," that Mr. Murawiec often implies.
Nonetheless, this book is a complete and detailed list of the House of Saud's damning sins and manipulations. I would suggest that these other equally resourceful books should accompany any reader's analysis of Saudi Arabian history; goals; and political policies:
Hatred's Kingdom : How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism - by Dore Gold
The Age of Sacred Terror : Radical Islam's War Against America - by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
And (really - it's a decent, factual book that pulls no punches yet does not villify Saudi Arabia),
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Saudi Arabia by Colin Wells

In this compulsively readable book, Laurent Murawiec tells us why the Al-Saud family are little more than "Talibans with oil and a good P.R. company." Using striking examples and documented references, he zooms onto facts that have long been known to experts, but are not enough widespread. For instance, the late King Faisal used to give his every visitor a copy of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Senior Saudi clerics regularly issue fatwas that call for the killing of Americans in Iraq. 70% of the jihadis captured in Iraq are Saudis. Saudi madrasas and publishing houses produce school books and other literature that preach slaughtering Westerns as a noble Islamic act. Etc, etc.

Murawiec is angry, but he gives us plenty of good reasons to be. He believes, however, that the free pass the Saudis have been given by the West is about to be revoked, by measures such as the Saudi Accountability Act of 2005, for instance. "Monitor their every outrage, scrutinize their policy, put their actions under the microscope. Look at international jihad, its funding, its logistics, its propagandists, its religious leaders and cheerleaders, the media, the recruiters, etc. Look at the Saudi element in each and every one of those aspects. Pin it down, publicize it, make a permanent stink out of it..."

A good and useful book.

In this compulsively readable book, Laurent Murawiec tells us why the Al-Saud family are little more than "Talibans with oil and a good P.R. company." Using striking examples and documented references, he zooms onto facts that have long been known to experts, but are not enough widespread. For instance, the late King Faisal used to give his every visitor a copy of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Senior Saudi clerics regularly issue fatwas that call for the killing of Americans in Iraq. 70% of the jihadis captured in Iraq are Saudis. Saudi madrasas and publishing houses produce school books and other literature that preach slaughtering Westerns as a noble Islamic act. Etc, etc.

Murawiec is angry, but he gives us plenty of good reasons to be. He believes, however, that the free pass the Saudis have been given by the West is about to be revoked, by measures such as the Saudi Accountability Act of 2005, for instance. "Monitor their every outrage, scrutinize their policy, put their actions under the microscope. Look at international jihad, its funding, its logistics, its propagandists, its religious leaders and cheerleaders, the media, the recruiters, etc. Look at the Saudi element in each and every one of those aspects. Pin it down, publicize it, make a permanent stink out of it..."

A good and useful book.

Murawiec's book is simply an expanded rehearsal of the frivolous-but-notorious Power Point presentation he gave to the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board in 2002. He seems to have decided--correctly--that a book bashing Saudi Arabia will sell to a certain audience, so he sticking with it. But e's no more accurate the second time around.

He repeats--with no factual support beyond "allegations"--that the Saudis have paid off bin Laden to stay away from fighting the Al-Saud. If that's the case, then the domestic war against terror within the country--with over 200 security people killed or wounded and over 100 terrorists killed--seems to indicate a bad bargain. Or, more likely, one that never existed.

His prescription for "solving the Saudi problem" reads like a neo-con's wet dream: separate the oil-producing Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia from the rest of the country; put the control of Mecca and Medina in the hands of an undefined "Islamic College." Nowhere does he seriously suggest how these might be done, nor the cost--to Americans and the West--of even attempting to achieve these goals.

This is a very unserious book masquerading as a scholastic tome. It will appeal to those who are already on the same sheet and be dismissed by any with even a rudimentary knowledge of the country and its people.

This book is in a sense of confirmation of and elaboration of the thesis that the present Saudi Arabian regime is a corrupt, anti- Western, religiously fanatic one which suppresses its own people and threatens the fundamental interests of the world's democracies. This thesis has been developed by among others, Dore Gold, in 'Hatred's Kingdom' ,Gerald Posner in "Secrets of the Kingdom" and John R. Bradley in 'Saudi Arabia Exposed".
Murawiec a career diplomat has however special insight into the processes of diplomatic corruption especially within the State Department. He cites the present ruler of Saudi Arabia Prince Abdallah's remark that ' taking care of career diplomats when they finish the service' is the best introduction and incentive to new diplomats as to how to act in regard to Saudi Arabia. Murawiec thus points to the tremendous amount of corruption done by Saudi money within the realm of the U.S. government.
He is a strong advocate of a new policy toward Saudi in which the US would get tough with the Monarchy. It would insist on end to anti- Western and US propaganda in the schools, an end to the training of ' fighters' many of whom make their way into Iraq to attack American soldiers. It would insist on true reforms within the Saudi regime, and an end to its vast support network for Terror throughout the world.
Murawiec believes the Saudis control over the oil market has led to a great increase in the poverty of the poorest nations. While he does not advocate, what might seem , the most logical step for stablizing world oil markets, the takeover of Saudi oil by a US led democratic coalition he does insist that the present situation is one which threatens to lead disaster to the world - economy as a whole.
This is a timely wake- up text about a corrupt Middle Eastern regime which unfortunately has been corrupting US diplomacy and foreign policy for decades.