Jean AbiNader

I don’t know Susanne Koelbl, but I sure would like to meet her if she comes to the US to promote her book. A virtual encounter would waste the opportunity to reminisce with a kindred spirit about the challenges and adventures possible in Saudi Arabia if one goes out beyond the hotels, business meetings, and now-to-be found touristic sites that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) is banking on as a pillar of economic diversity away for carbon dependence. Her book is about people, aspirations, visions, crushed dreams, insecurity, opportunity, and acceptance. It is an adventure story and a morality tale all in one. Her interviews and profiles of people run the gauntlet from the top to the base of the pyramid that is Saudi Arabia today. The difference between her experiences beginning in 2011 and mine starting in 1976 is the bulge in the middle of the edifice, resulting from the education of millions of Saudis that has given them insights and objectives to make decisions that were not possible decades ago. Susanne has a sensitivity and sense of irony in drawing out statements from her sources. She frames the profiles in historical and contemporary contexts that are invaluable for anyone interested in the Kingdom and where the engine is headed. Susanne does not shy away from asking hard questions, gathering painful recollections, and providing nuances that allow the reader to pass their own judgements on the perspectives and experiences she unfolds. It is neither a tell-all nor a selective editing of what’s going on the Saudi Arabia. She lets her stories carry the promises, justifications, insights, and contradictions that make the Kingdom a fascinating and challenging country in transition to a hard reality where art is unfettered, young men and women are confident in shaping their futures, and older generations can reminisce with a sigh and much shaking of their heads about the warp speed of changes in their lifetimes. While the politics of the moment dominate any discussion of Saudi Arabia, this book brings us the people who are living with and through Vision 2030 as defined by MbS. He is simultaneously driven and obstructed by his complex ambitions. To sharpen and deepen your understanding of his Saudi Arabia and how it impacts people in diverse ways, take the time to read this book. Time well spent.