The history of al-Saud family is quite interesting. It spans three different eras with the last being the most visible and the most publicized because of the discovery of oil.

Going back to its modern founder Ibn Saud, Saudi Arabia found its place in history through secret conspiracies that initially pegged cousins against cousins and tribes against tribes. Today, it pegs nations against nations and still churns out enough secrets and conspiracies to keep it in the limelight. Al-Saud have financed fundamentalism in neighboring countries. They have financed the Iran-Contra operations against the will of US Congress and the laws of the United States. They have financed Mujaheddin in Afghanistan. They have financed Iraq against Iran. They have started two wars in Yemen and failed in both of them. They have financed French elections using their cronies on both sides of the isle. This is what we know. What we do not know is the iceberg itself.

Armed with a keen disposition to interfere in affairs of other nations around the globe, this country of 12 million had used its money and influence to peddle everything and anything. Along the way, we have seen al-Saud's own views of the world and the people around them.

A heated conversation in 1980, at the height of Saudi power and oil surplus, took place between this author and a closed associate of the royal family and considered part of their inner circle at the Fouquet cafe on the Champs Elysees in Paris. The conversation centered around Saudi role in world affairs having been thrusted onto the scene at a time when western economies were still stagnating from higher oil prices and other factors one of which the taking of hostages by Iran and the low self-esteem the US endured during that period. I asked my esteemed acquaintance the following question :

"What do you think Saudi Arabia's role will be in world affairs by the year 2000?"

His answer was unequivocally strong and determined. No hesitation.

"Saudi Arabia will, in 20 years, own the United States"

Thoughts like these are groomed and discussed and do not land in someone's mind after a long dream. It was without a shadow of a doubt that this uttered sentence by this worldly gentleman had roots at much higher levels within the Saudi government. How else can one explain the lack of hesitation or the lack of consternation on his behalf given that al-Saud foreign policy centers around them and around them only ?

I wish I could meet with this same person today in September of 1996 to remind him of his answer.


The Al-Saud clan categorizes people in four distinct categories. Since no one has scientifically studied that subject before, we feel it is appropriate to give titles to these categories based on our understanding of the family.

Masters
Servants - High and Low
Slaves
Owned - Privileged and Unprivileged

Each of these categories may have sub-categories that may explain further the inter-relationship of al-Saud within that category.

MASTERS : in this category you will find people whom al-Saud think of them as superior in economic and political power. Ibn Saud started a tradition when he met with Roosevelt at the end of World War II when he agreed to oil concessions to American companies at ridiculous prices. That historic meeting and the pursuant policy of al-Saud with the Americans truly puts the Americans as masters of al-Saud. Very few requests are refused, very few demands are questioned. A true master/slave relationship. Within that category, other sub-category exist that explain al-Saud relationship with other powerful allies or nations. Such is true of China or France where a demand is not refused but questioned and only approved if the US approves as well. This cautious dynamic relationship can be best described as two male siblings one who is powerful and one who is weak with a half-sister seeking favoritism.

SERVANTS : This category is divided into two distinct sub-categories, the High Servant and the Low Servant.

The High Servant is close to the royal family whose job is to serve their immediate needs. These immediate needs are as different and complex as the life of a human being. A High Servant is a front businessman who steals the money on behalf of the Saudi prince. A high Servant is one that takes care of the family of an al-Saud such as shopping needs or personal needs. Another one serves the Prince drugs or women, and so on... These people can make a lot of money if they play their role with total discretion. A business High Servant easily becomes a billionaire such as Rafic Hariri, the prime minister of Lebanon or the late Akram Ojjeh or Wafic Said etc... A personal High Servant such as Ali bin Mussallam can become billionaire faster because he may control personal business matters such as oil deals where the true value and true payments are never known to the King or his immediate family. The area is too complex and fraud is easy. Many High Servants are non-Saudis because al-Saud treat their own people under a different category.

The Low Servant is a typical middle class manager mainly a Palestinian or Lebanese or Egyptian who in reality has built Saudi Arabia. These people are indistinguishable to al-Saud and are considered as a necessary low maintenance, low cost commodity very much to how a family man considers potatoes : low cost yet useful to keep his household happy. Once in a while a Low Servant graduates to a High Servant because he catches the eye of a family member of al-Saud. This is what happened to Rafic Hariri before he became a High Servant. He was a middle manager at the finance ministry in Saudi Arabia where he was introduced to King Fahd who fancied him.

SLAVES : In this category we find third world workers who have demenial jobs in Saudi Arabia such as maids, taxi drivers, bus boys, etc... These people have as much rights as a deer in a tiger park. They are abused, beaten, raped, and sometimes killed with no legal recourse. Al-Saud condone the way treatment is accorded to these people by the masses. Many Human Rights organizations have complained about the abuse subjected to these poor souls but with no political will on behalf of western nations to upset an exporter of oil, these peoples have mostly relied on international organizations for a merciful treatment while in Saudi Arabia. In fact, many of these organizations consider the testament of foreign workers as slavery and sometimes worse.

OWNED : Two distinct sub-categories constitute the make-up of this category. Privileged Owned and Unprivileged Owned.

Owned is a term describing how al-Saud feel about their own people. The term describes correctly the fact that al-Saud "OWN" these people lock, stock, and all. To argue with them that they feel they own all of the oil in Saudi Arabia is an exercise in futility. To argue with them that they think they also own the people of Saudi Arabia is more difficult than arguing about the oil. Al-Saud reason that if they own the people then they own the land and thus the oil. The logical step is to treat people as if they own them. Decree after decree only goes to prove this point. The latest decree forbids people to name their children certain names. If that is not ownership, we do not know what is.

The Privileged Owned are those merchant Saudi families and Saudi businessmen whether rich or not who must please, pay, kiss up to, and sustain any al-Saud member in order to survive in their totalitarian regime. No Saudi businessman who has ever displeased a royalty did any considerable business in Saudi Arabia. Like the infamous black list created to punish Israel, Saudi businessmen are blacklisted if they do not abide by a certain unethical code that include almost all of the times paying off an al-Saud to get his business going. The Privileged Owned are subjected to a routine that tax them heavily in financial and moral terms. This Saudi club between an owner and an ownee has been around ever since al-Saud have been in power. Not one case exist in the history of that country where someone disagreed with the government publicly and was not punished severely for stepping out of line. Even al-Saud members are not exempt from that punishment. When Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz started an organization called Free Princes in Egypt in the early seventies that opposed the way the country was being run, it took him over twenty years to gain back the confidence of his peers and to be forgiven. His love for children landed him a job to head the UNICEF at the U.N.

The Unprivileged Owned are the rest of the Saudi populace who have no one but al-Saud to get their grievances heard and who represent the majority of Saudis made up of illiterate tribal people. These people have no power, no understanding of the rule of al-Saud, no mental capacity to fight or oppose, and no will to elevate themselves from the quagmire they find themselves in. A rumor once circulated in the ministries that al-Saud wanted that populace to remain ignorant and uneducated because they served an essential social service with their blind obedience and misunderstanding of the ill deeds practiced by al-Saud every day. They represent the majority of the population and mostly live a simple life with agriculture as a primary source of income and life cycle.Al-Saud think they also own these people and treat them sometimes with pity and sometimes with harshness depending on the level of obedience and loyalty they can inject into the corrupt system of al-Saud.