Address at New York University School of
Law
New York City on November 16, 2006
Dr Noah Feldman, Dr. Bernard Haykel, thank you
for inviting
me to talk at your prestigious university.
Ladies and gentlemen: I appreciate you taking
the time to join me here today. I always
look forward to speaking before students.
It is a privilege to be able to contribute what
I can to your understanding of issues that are
of great importance to our two nations.
Over the course of the last year, I have
traveled to more than 25 states and talked with
students at numerous colleges and universities
� Kansas State, the University of Chicago,
Tufts, Harvard, MIT, Georgetown, and several
others. I have been listening to young
people voice their questions and concerns about
the relations between the U.S. and my country.
I view this interaction as the most important
aspect of my job as Ambassador. I enjoy
listening to and sharing distinct viewpoints.
I believe, for this reason, you are all very
fortunate to be receiving an education at an
institution such as NYU. You not only have
exposure to renowned professors; you also have
New York City, which is an education in
multiculturalism and internationalism unto
itself. I always enjoy spending time in
the Big Apple.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Because the last few months have been
saturated with talk of politics and government
policy, I am going to digress from these
concerns. Instead, I will take this time
to discuss a topic that I don�t often have the
opportunity to address. And that is Saudi youth.
I would like to share with you a picture of
what�s going on in the Kingdom today.
Specifically, I�d like to talk about how we
are making space in society for our younger
citizens, and how we are preparing them to take
a place in the global community.
These types of considerations are naturally
important for all governments. It is a
matter of making sure our nation is prepared for
tomorrow. But in Saudi Arabia, a great
deal is going on. Many initiatives are
underway to secure a future for our children �
politically, economically, and socially.
And we are doing so for a number of reasons.
One reason is a matter of demographics.
The oil boom years of the 1970s created wealth,
and the wealth was used to develop our nation.
Infant mortality rates dropped significantly,
and life-expectancy increased among Saudis. As a
way to help its people, the government put in
place a social welfare system. This was
designed to take care of our citizens from the
cradle to the grave: free education, free
healthcare, interest-free mortgages for
first-time homebuyers, interest-free loans for
small businesses, and subsidies for farmers.
As a consequence, many Saudis began large
families. And their children are now a part of
the generation coming into the workforce.
For them and the following generation, we�ve
had to be prepared.
Another reason is a matter of generational
interplay. Like you, your Saudi peers have
grown up in a different world than their elders.
Unlike you, the difference is actually quite
dramatic.
Some fifty years ago, Saudi Arabia was still
primarily a nomadic society, with few large
cities. For most people in the Kingdom,
tribal association remained stronger than
national identity. About thirty years ago,
as I mentioned, many changes began to take
place. The Kingdom opened to
telecommunications. We began to build
modern hospitals and schools, skyscrapers and
malls, highways and airports � where a few
decades earlier only desert existed.
New challenges came quickly as Saudi
Arabia�s place in the world grew. My
generation saw Saudi King Faisal assassinated.
We lived through the regional turmoil of the oil
embargo of the mid-70s. We witnessed the
seizure of the Grand Mosque at Makkah by
extremists in �79. These were all events
that drastically altered the world view of older
Saudis � as Vietnam, Watergate, and the deaths
of leaders, such as President Kennedy � did
for most Americans.
For Saudi youth, the amount of political,
cultural and societal change their parents and
grandparents have seen in such a short period of
time is difficult to grasp. My generation
saw modern Saudi Arabia built. This
generation was born into it.
As the Kingdom continues to grow and
modernize, and as young Saudis today face their
own set of challenges � the online revolution
and satellite TV, globalization and the new
economy � we want to be sure they are
sufficiently grounded in their heritage and
culture.
The Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck said: �One
faces the future with one�s past.�
This has been the mantra of Saudis for the last
three generations. Our Islamic heritage
and our traditions have held firm the fabric of
our society � despite a virtual revolution of
modernity. The governing of our nation has
been grounded in the Islamic Shari�ah and Arab
tribal custom � and we have remained a pillar
of stability in the face of a tumultuous region.
We have worked diligently to strike a balance
between providing for the modern welfare of our
people and obtaining a consensus from our
citizens about what type of change they can
manage. We have been successful.
Saudis are being prepared. They are
being educated, and they are being protected
from deviant and corruptive influences.
We are making sure of this, ladies and
gentlemen, because our children truly are the
keys to the Kingdom.
How have we been doing this? Saudi
Arabia has been helping its citizens �
particularly its young citizens � in two ways.
First, we have been taking steps to improve how
Saudis view the world. And second, we have
been taking steps to improve how the world views
Saudis.
To address this first point � how Saudis
view the world � the Kingdom has undertaken a
series of ongoing initiatives to increase
participation in government, to improve economic
opportunity, and to modernize learning.
Saudis want the same as anyone else �
opportunity, education and a good job. We
need to give them the tools to succeed and
interact in the global community.
One of Saudi Arabia�s most significant
steps to open Saudis up to the world was to join
the World Trade Organization. As a
consequence, more Saudi products will have
access to the global marketplace, creating jobs
and opportunities for our citizens. And it
will also encourage more international
investments and products to come to the Kingdom.
It is also important as a way for us to
diversity our economy away from oil.
I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, the oil
will be flowing for a long while to come, but
Saudi Arabia cannot live on oil alone. We are
encouraging the development of banking,
information technology and other industries.
If we are to build a skill set for tomorrow�s
economy, we must start today.
This, of course, goes along with the
important initiatives Saudi Arabia continues to
make to upgrade its educational system.
The Kingdom is in the process of reviewing all
of its education practices and materials, and is
removing any element that is inconsistent with
the needs of a modern education. Not only
are we eliminating what might be perceived as
intolerance from old text books that were in our
system, we have implemented a comprehensive
internal revision and modernization plan.
New curricula emphasize critical thinking,
math, and science, and these curricula also
emphasize the teaching of true Islamic values
and the positive skills necessary for good
citizenship and productivity, as well as how to
safeguard community in peace, the environment,
health and human rights. In every level of
education, from grade school to high school to
college, the government has gone so far as to
sponsor lectures that promote moderation and
tolerance. Even kindergarteners are made
aware of the importance of tolerance and peace.
Saudis cannot deny that terrorism and
extremism pose a serious threat and can be a
corruptive influence to youth. So we are
making sure our young citizens learn about its
evils and understand the true nature of our
Islamic faith.
All of these programs � and others such as
the National Dialogues, which promote the public
exchange of ideas on topics like women in
society and youth � help to improve the
outlook of Saudis on the world. If they
are to compete globally, they must be able to
think globally.
This is why Saudi Arabia rejuvenated a
scholarship program to send Saudi students to
colleges and universities abroad. They can
learn, make friends, and experience foreign
cultures. In the first phase of the
program, 10,000 students were offered full,
four-year scholarships. Most of them � I
would say 95% of them -- will study in the
United States.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Saudi scholarship program actually brings
me to the second way the Kingdom is helping its
youth. In addition to giving Saudis a positive
perspective, we have also been taking steps to
improve the world�s view of the Saudi people.
And the scholarship program figures into this
effort perfectly.
By sending our students abroad, we are not
only providing them with a world-class
education, we are, in a way, sending a fleet of
envoys around the world. These students
are the true Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia.
They will be out forming friendships and
relationships that will break down barriers of
misunderstanding between our cultures.
They will be actively demonstrating what we have
in common.
This is critical because there are a great
number of unfair misperceptions out there about
Saudi Arabia. Whether they are related to
misunderstanding about the nature of Islam, or
are vicious stereotypes derived from the actions
of terrorists and extremists, these weigh
heavily on the Saudi people.
Adding to the issue is the fact that news
media and popular culture provide a poor window
through which the Kingdom is viewed. As educated
as I have found Americans during my time in this
country, I still encounter people who believe
Saudis ride to work on camels; that our women
are all oppressed and chained to the kitchen;
and that our countryside is only filled with
gushing oil wells.
We can certainly shoulder the responsibility
for some of this. Saudis are a private
people. In recent years, though, we�ve opened
up our country to a great extent. We
welcome journalists and academics. We
welcome government officials and businesspeople.
We welcome you all as well.
If you came to the Kingdom, you would see a
burgeoning society, whose youth are urban and
increasingly sophisticated. They go to
Starbucks and Internet cafes, not that those are
signs of sophistication. They travel
extensively, and they have embraced their Saudi
identity. You would also see the
modernizing nation in which they were raised and
will soon be full participants.
Saudi surgeons are pioneering new techniques
to separate conjoined twins and perform organ
transplants. Saudi women are opening businesses
in new industries every day. They now have
ownership stakes in almost 25,000 companies in
the Kingdom. Last year the Saudi stock
exchange set records, and is now, by far, the
largest emerging market in the world, with a
market capitalization exceeding $700 billion.
Technology has been integrated into our society
and economy, and is driving our performance. In
the last five years, internet usage has grown by
more than 1,000 percent, and this year, we are
sending into space six communications and
observation satellites.
We want the world to be aware of all of this.
But we also want you to know that as we continue
to build our society and participate in the
world community, we are making sure we are doing
so in a way that is consistent with our
traditions. If our young citizens are
going to be able to manage the challenges of the
next century, they must have the character and
moral fiber to make the right decisions.
In talking about my nation�s efforts to
guide its youth, I am reminded of the words of
the American author Jack Kerouac. He said:
�All of life is a foreign country.� A
more prescient statement could not have been
made about the world today.
So as your generation seeks its own path,
please keep in mind what we impart to the youth
of Saudi Arabia. That is, some experiences you
may have will closely resemble those of others.
Some will be different. But it is critical to
remember that although our language, our dress,
and our customs may be different, our hopes, our
aspirations, and our dreams are all the same.
Ashkurukum shukran jazeelan � thank you all
very much � and barak Allah feekum � and God
bless you all.
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