CREDIBILITY GAPS

The true state of affairs in the higher levels of authority in Saudi Arabia is very hard to discover and even more difficult to confirm. The government's presentation of its activities and achievements is almost always euphoric, usually self-congratulatory – and often unrealistic. In its unremitting efforts to convince the Saudi people of the absolute success of all its endeavours, the Saudi regime unwittingly erodes the very credibility it constantly seeks to establish for itself.