Is Saudi Arabia Really So Angry at Canada Over a Tweet?

[Saif al-Arab]

Is Saudi Arabia Really So Angry at Canada Over a Tweet? ​

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is attempting to transform his country. The West shouldn’t undermine him.

By Ali Shihabi

Mr. Shihabi is the founder of the Arabia Foundation, a think tank.

Aug. 13, 2018

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.CreditAlastair Grant/Associated Press

Last week, the Saudi government expelled the Canadian ambassador from Riyadh, and canceled flights, educational exchanges, and trade and investment activities between the two countries.

This crisis was precipitated by a tweet — published both in English and, crucially, in Arabic — on Aug. 3 from the Canadian foreign ministry saying it was “gravely concerned” about the arrest of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia and urging the Saudi government to “immediately release them.”

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.CreditYves Herman/Rueters

To many observers, especially in the West, this incident is proof that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is not the reformer he claims to be, but rather an impulsive authoritarian. That’s understandable. On the surface such a series of drastic steps seem like a massive overreaction. But there’s far more going on here than meets the eye.

This situation must be understood in the context of Saudi and Islamic culture. Any Arab leader, particularly a young one who has recently assumed power in a traditional and mostly tribal society, has to carefully maintain his and his country’s stature and prestige, what classical Muslim scholars called hayba. This refers to the awe and respect that a ruler and his state must command in order to maintain order and stability without having to resort to excessive coercion, and without which there is no basis for legitimate rule.

This means that Prince Mohammed cannot allow himself or his country to be publicly lectured by Western leaders — especially in his own language. This was particularly the case since the Canadian embassy in Riyadh posted the tweet in Arabic, ensuring a wide circulation on local social media. Such perceived blatant interference in Saudi Arabia’s domestic affairs could not go unanswered without damaging the prestige of the state in the eyes of its people.

Let’s be clear: This has nothing to do with Prince Mohammed’s status as a reformer. The crown prince’s stated goal is social, economic, and cultural and religious transformation of his kingdom — not political reform. This is a point his Western critics often forget. In fact, to implement the enormous changes he wants, he has felt the need to further limit the margin of free speech in order to control public debate on these reforms and ensure that they do not escalate into civil unrest.

What he has been doing — and at warp speed — is reforming the economy by eliminating wasteful subsidies, a perilous political task even under the best of circumstances. Furthermore, he is taking on an entrenched reactionary religious establishment: carrying out an aggressive fight against extremism, working to eliminate extremist materials from school curriculums, and changing the message that the clerical establishment sends to the Muslim world. He is also working aggressively to eliminate many of the constraints on women, like lifting the driving ban and, gradually and quietly, tempering the restrictive guardianship laws imposed on women.

Religious conservatives are pushing back. One of the ways they try to undermine Prince Mohammed is by claiming that his reforms are the product of an “American agenda” that aims to Westernize Saudi society and distance it from its Islamic roots. Given the close ties that the kingdom maintains with the West, these false allegations resonate with the masses. And Saudi leaders have surely not forgotten what happened to the shah of Iran when he was accused of implementing an America agenda: Clerics used the charge to inflame the people against him and he was deposed in a revolution.

The Canadian government’s public scolding was therefore seen as an unacceptable affront that required a vigorous response. For Prince Mohammed, it is imperative that his reforms are not seen to be a result of Western political pressure, but rather in the interests of the country, the people, their faith and their culture. He cannot allow outsiders to try and dictate their views to the kingdom’s leadership or attempt to reach out directly to the Saudi people in such matters without impacting the hayba of the state.

Does this mean that the Saudi government didn’t overreact? No. But Western nations have a vested interest in the success of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to transform itself, and so they must understand the political limitations and treacherous risks under which the leadership is attempting to bring about change. Prince Mohammed has every interest in maintaining good relations between his country and the West. The crown prince is very open to Western leaders and is in constant communication with many of them. Feel-good public posturing may play well with liberals in Canada, but quiet diplomacy is far more effective.

Ali Shihabi (@alishihabi) is the founder of the Arabia Foundation, a think tank.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/opinion/canada-saudi-arabia-tweet-mbs.html

 

[Hassan Guy]

no.

Saudi Arabia says quarrel with Canada will not stop oil shipments

 

[Saif al-Arab]

no.

Saudi Arabia says quarrel with Canada will not stop oil shipments

A great move, as KSA-Canada ties will return to normality soon. However what is described in the article cannot be gambled with as much more is at stake than temporarily non-friendly relations with Canada, the 20th largest trade partner of KSA.

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/7-wa...urt-canada-during-massive-feud-so-far.571715/

https://twitter.com/x/status/1028382256866451457

What Canada’s spat with Saudi Arabia reveals about Trudeau’s scatterbrained foreign policy
​

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada in Montreal on Aug. 8. (Christinne Muschi/Reuters)

By J.J. McCullough
August 10

The worsening spat between the governments of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been mostly analyzed from the Saudi angle: a case study of the kingdom’s eggshell sensitivities and bossy expectations of deference. Yet the story also reveals much about Trudeau’s own inadequacies as a statesman, and the thoroughly confused nature of his foreign-policy priorities.

Trudeau is often elevated as one of the west’s champions of principled liberal internationalism, a world leader who offers a marked contrast with the populist nationalism of Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orban, et al. Insofar as Trudeau has been an outspoken proponent of immigration, multiculturalism, and Muslim empathy, the contrast is undeniable. At the same time, his commitment to a broader world order seeking to consolidate the gains of liberal reform and resist the pull of authoritarian chauvinism has always been tenuous, in large part because the prime minister appears to have persistent difficulty in distinguishing the two.

While in opposition in 2014, Trudeau led his party in voting to opposeCanada’s participation in airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq, and later, Syria, for blandly pacifist reasons. It was a move that isolated him from every progressive leader in western Europe, as well as the one in the White House, who saw the mission as a rational use of force. Upon his election as prime minister two years later, he used his inaugural phone call to President Barack Obama to formally announce that he would be ending the military involvement his predecessor had started. The war on ISIS, accordingly, was won without much help from Canada.

On the campaign trail, Trudeau vowed to restore diplomatic ties with Iran, which Canada had severed in 2012. Following a rash of high-profile human rights outrages, including the detention of an Iranian Canadian widow of a prominent Iranian liberal, he was forced to backpedal. In 2016, Trudeau mourned in flowery terms the passing of Cuba’s Fidel Castro — “a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century” — and was mocked across the globe for his ignorance. In April, Canada made the dramatic decision to recall all diplomatic families from Havana after embassy workers showed symptoms of unexplained brain injuries.

April also saw the prime minister make a high-profile visit to China, a country whose “basic dictatorship” he once praised for its efficiency. He brought visions of free trade, only to have the Chinese flatly refuseOttawa’s list of “progressive” labor and environmental provisions. The rejection stung, coming just a few weeks after an even more spectacularly unsuccessful trip to India. Rather than herald the beginning of a new partnership with the country’s dynamic new leader, Narendra Modi, a series of severe diplomatic missteps plummeted relations to what an former minister described as “rock bottom.”

And now, a dispute that has seen Saudi Arabia play every possible retaliatory card against Canada, from sending home its ambassador to boycotting Canadian grain. At issue is an uncredited tweet from the Canadian foreign affairs department demanding that Saudi Arabia “immediately” release from detention feminist campaigner Samar Badawi, as well as “all other peaceful #humanrights activists.”

Saudi Arabia has long faced an uphill PR battle in Canada. On the left, it is routinely portrayed as the quintessential example of a repulsive “ally” exposing the moral hypocrisy of the Ottawa elite; a vicious dictatorship given billions in arms to satiate Canada’s addiction to fossil fuels. On the right, the kingdom serves a standard shorthand for Sharia tyranny, whose oil imports are an embarrassing reminder of Canada’s under-utilized natural resources. This confluence of ideological interests has, thus far, helped ensure Trudeau’s Saudi crisis is more politically salvageable than earlier diplomatic snares. As the prime minister doubles down on support of the offending tweet, a broad right-left coalition happily takes Saudi bad faith for granted, as when a Saudi group posted a picture of an Air Canada jet flying over Toronto and many on social media demagogued about the kingdom “threatening to 9/11 Canada.”

Yet from a higher vantage point, one sees a familiar story: A Canadian prime minister whose ability to identify friends and enemies is out of sync with the moment of history he inhabits. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy whose detention of activists is antithetical to Canadian democracy. But this can just as easily be said of Cuba and China, whose regimes Trudeau has showered with cartoonish affection. The distinction is that, while the ruler of Saudi Arabia is a young reformist exerting targeted effort to scale back some of his government’s hideousness, including Wahhabi fundamentalism, Trudeau happily seeks opportunities in dictatorships far less self-conscious.

It’s entirely possible the crown prince will not be successful in his efforts. However, if Canada’s goal, is a foreign policy oriented to endorse the spread of global liberalism, it is not at all obvious how a prolonged fight with Riyadh is more principled than tighter trade ties to Beijing or an embassy in Tehran.

Analogies to the ISIS war or the Modi summit seem apt. A country like Canada cannot affect much of consequence on the international stage. But if the goal is future relevance, the Trudeau administration should, at least, possess awareness of where its incompetence is best directed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...rained-foreign-policy/?utm_term=.d2110a0dfbe8

 

[FalconStar]

No it's just to warn other western countries of how far the Saudi's are willing to go to protect their interests.
This way many champions of human rights would be wary of criticising KSA.
And Trump hates Trudeau so MBS got a soft one to hit here.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

No it's just to warn other western countries of how far the Saudi's are willing to go to protect their interests.
This way many champions of human rights would be wary of criticising KSA.
And Trump hates Trudeau so MBS got a soft one to hit here.

Is that not what a good leader is supposed to do? If a Canadian ambassador (or was it a diplomat) in Riyadh can use such provocative and compromising language in Arabic on Twitter (great way to conduct diplomacy BTW, next time PDF should be used), a platform where Saudi Arabians have the highest social media penetration in the world per capita, without consequences, how does that make MbS appear like in the minds of the average Saudi Arabian and in particular those opposed to his reforms (conservatives), who as the article rightly states, will parrot the "Western puppet" nonsense and try to undermine much-needed and praised domestic reforms?

When you think about this, having in mind that KSA-Canada relations will return to normal (if not very soon then for sure when Trudeau is gone), it makes much more sense than suspected initially.

Also as the Washington Post article, that I posted, rightly states, it is pure hypocrisy from him when he praises the likes of Cuba and China (no difference in terms of government form) and tries to develop ties with Iran, which makes Canada look highly pathetic and hypocritical hence why there is no support for Canada among its traditional friends and allies. Of course this also has to do with Saudi Arabia's political importance but obviously not only.

 

[FalconStar]

Is that not what a good leader is supposed to do? If a Canadian ambassador (or was it a diplomat) in Riyadh can use such provocative and compromising language in Arabic on Twitter (great way to conduct diplomacy BTW, next time PDF should be used), a platform where Saudi Arabians have the highest penetration in the world, without consequences, how does that make MbS appear like in the minds of the average Saudi Arabian and in particular those opposed to his reforms (conservatives), who as the article rightly states, will parrot the "Western puppet" nonsense and try to undermine much-needed and praised domestic reforms?

When you think about this, having in mind that KSA-Canada relations will return to normal (if not very soon then for sure when Tradeau is gone), it makes much more sense than suspected initially.

I never said I opposed the move. In my opinion it's a genius move to strike someone like Canada to warn big players. This proves he's not gonna take it lying back but hit you back even harder.
Next time before anyone criticises them they'll think twice.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

I never said I opposed the move. In my opinion it's a genius move to strike someone like Canada to warn big players. This proves he's not gonna take it lying back but hit you back even harder.
Next time before anyone criticises them they'll think twice.

My comment was just a general one.

I agree.

The former Canadian ambassador to KSA was similarly critical of Canada's conduct on Canadian television.

3:09 minute into the video.

Anyway as far as I am aware of, Canada is mediating with nations that are close to KSA (Arab, Western and Eastern) to try and defuse the "conflict" although it calmed down compared to last week.

 

[Mootaz-khelifi]

i consider it stupid act by saudi tbh inprisioning ppl for political opinion or social activisim is wrong

 

[jian-10]

Careful Canada, don't piss the Saudi regime off too much, or they might drop a bomb on a bus full of Canadian school kids next time!

 

[The SC]

The article misses two important points..the first is why this criticism while the reforms are being implemented!?, the second, and very important one, is that it is the King who takes these rather important decisions, not MBS who is still the Crown Prince ..

 

[Sugarcane]

KSA kicked the nutts rightly, it must make sure that these hypocritical champions of rights bend over and drop their pants

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Careful Canada, don't piss the Saudi regime off too much, or they might drop a bomb on a bus full of Canadian school kids next time!

Yes, we should also drop a bomb on your low IQ head. I suggest joining your terrorist cultists in Yemen in order to receive "a one-way ticket to a better world".

KSA kicked the nutts rightly, it must make sure that these hypocritical champions of rights bend over and drop their pants

You don't mess with KSA. People have forgot that KSA is the Muslim country that has harmed the West the most. Just the oil embargo's in the 1970's did more economic harm for the US and West than any action to date by a Muslim state.

KSA has mad much greater diplomatic disputes with the West than this nonsense with Canada. Kissinger was once openly threatening KSA with an invasion (lol).


Even terrorists from KSA (15 people), even though they acted independently and their actions must be condoned at all times, did more harm to the US than anyone else.

The article misses two important points..the first is why this criticism while the reforms are being implemented!?, the second, and very important one, is that it is the King who takes these rather important decisions, not MBS who is still the Crown Prince ..

Because at its core the West is not interested in strong non-Western countries (forget Arabs and Muslims here) or possible competitors unless they are fully aligned with the US on all fronts (as Western European states such as the UK are for instance). However KSA is some sort of exception because they deeply fear the alternative.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1026908372367486977

The article misses two important points..the first is why this criticism while the reforms are being implemented!?, the second, and very important one, is that it is the King who takes these rather important decisions, not MBS who is still the Crown Prince ..

Careful Canada, don't piss the Saudi regime off too much, or they might drop a bomb on a bus full of Canadian school kids next time!

 

[Saif al-Arab]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/saudi...051877#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=twitter&_gsc=YQoqWKO

https://twitter.com/x/status/1029496312427732992

https://twitter.com/x/status/1029489425905012736

https://twitter.com/x/status/1029440125363740672

Western media is a joke.

What a joke this attention seeking ***** is!

100.000's + Saudi Arabian students have studied, worked and lived in Canada for decades and not a single terrorist attack was done. Yet this attention seeking ***** barks nonsense later to backtrack (deleting her tweet) when exposed! Saudi Arabians were second only to Canadians and Americans next door to receive medical degrees in Canada! A well respected community. Sadly mentally disturbed people like this woman is living in La La Land.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1028216138713522176

Can you say EXPOSED?

More Western hypocrisy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1028297899577360385

 

[fitpOsitive]

Is Saudi Arabia Really So Angry at Canada Over a Tweet? ​

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is attempting to transform his country. The West shouldn’t undermine him.

By Ali Shihabi

Mr. Shihabi is the founder of the Arabia Foundation, a think tank.

Aug. 13, 2018

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.CreditAlastair Grant/Associated Press

Last week, the Saudi government expelled the Canadian ambassador from Riyadh, and canceled flights, educational exchanges, and trade and investment activities between the two countries.

This crisis was precipitated by a tweet — published both in English and, crucially, in Arabic — on Aug. 3 from the Canadian foreign ministry saying it was “gravely concerned” about the arrest of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia and urging the Saudi government to “immediately release them.”

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.CreditYves Herman/Rueters

To many observers, especially in the West, this incident is proof that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is not the reformer he claims to be, but rather an impulsive authoritarian. That’s understandable. On the surface such a series of drastic steps seem like a massive overreaction. But there’s far more going on here than meets the eye.

This situation must be understood in the context of Saudi and Islamic culture. Any Arab leader, particularly a young one who has recently assumed power in a traditional and mostly tribal society, has to carefully maintain his and his country’s stature and prestige, what classical Muslim scholars called hayba. This refers to the awe and respect that a ruler and his state must command in order to maintain order and stability without having to resort to excessive coercion, and without which there is no basis for legitimate rule.

This means that Prince Mohammed cannot allow himself or his country to be publicly lectured by Western leaders — especially in his own language. This was particularly the case since the Canadian embassy in Riyadh posted the tweet in Arabic, ensuring a wide circulation on local social media. Such perceived blatant interference in Saudi Arabia’s domestic affairs could not go unanswered without damaging the prestige of the state in the eyes of its people.

Let’s be clear: This has nothing to do with Prince Mohammed’s status as a reformer. The crown prince’s stated goal is social, economic, and cultural and religious transformation of his kingdom — not political reform. This is a point his Western critics often forget. In fact, to implement the enormous changes he wants, he has felt the need to further limit the margin of free speech in order to control public debate on these reforms and ensure that they do not escalate into civil unrest.

What he has been doing — and at warp speed — is reforming the economy by eliminating wasteful subsidies, a perilous political task even under the best of circumstances. Furthermore, he is taking on an entrenched reactionary religious establishment: carrying out an aggressive fight against extremism, working to eliminate extremist materials from school curriculums, and changing the message that the clerical establishment sends to the Muslim world. He is also working aggressively to eliminate many of the constraints on women, like lifting the driving ban and, gradually and quietly, tempering the restrictive guardianship laws imposed on women.

Religious conservatives are pushing back. One of the ways they try to undermine Prince Mohammed is by claiming that his reforms are the product of an “American agenda” that aims to Westernize Saudi society and distance it from its Islamic roots. Given the close ties that the kingdom maintains with the West, these false allegations resonate with the masses. And Saudi leaders have surely not forgotten what happened to the shah of Iran when he was accused of implementing an America agenda: Clerics used the charge to inflame the people against him and he was deposed in a revolution.

The Canadian government’s public scolding was therefore seen as an unacceptable affront that required a vigorous response. For Prince Mohammed, it is imperative that his reforms are not seen to be a result of Western political pressure, but rather in the interests of the country, the people, their faith and their culture. He cannot allow outsiders to try and dictate their views to the kingdom’s leadership or attempt to reach out directly to the Saudi people in such matters without impacting the hayba of the state.

Does this mean that the Saudi government didn’t overreact? No. But Western nations have a vested interest in the success of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to transform itself, and so they must understand the political limitations and treacherous risks under which the leadership is attempting to bring about change. Prince Mohammed has every interest in maintaining good relations between his country and the West. The crown prince is very open to Western leaders and is in constant communication with many of them. Feel-good public posturing may play well with liberals in Canada, but quiet diplomacy is far more effective.

Ali Shihabi (@alishihabi) is the founder of the Arabia Foundation, a think tank.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/opinion/canada-saudi-arabia-tweet-mbs.html

Whatever you do, let trump handle Canada himself.