Saudis are rather normal as far as that sort of thing goes. They have a difficult line to walk as their country is filled with radicals.
They have Mecca...
But they want a westernized society. They fear their neighbors will wage a holy war to control Mecca and their oil reserves. They have to appear to be religious...but they are marginal/nominal at best.
Fairly nice people all around.
Those that are radicals are "disappeared".
They are a monarchy for a reason. And aren't planning on changing anytime soon. You should agree with that as well... you don't want voting there under any circumstances. The radicals will gain the upper hand and the place will be in chaos.
Like kidnapping a journalist in Turkey and chopping him to pieces? Like torture? Like the many human rights abuses their military committed in Yemen?
The conservative think tank CATO Institute has a good article about it, by someone who used to work for Ronald Reagan:
Those Who Destroyed Yemen Must be Prosecuted for War Crimes
An international investigation of war crimes in Yemen could implicate the US too since we sell them arms and help them in other ways. A case could be made for arguing someone in the US is guilty of war crimes.
They do have some elective offices, by the way. I think women can vote there now too. The reason they have so many radicals is because their government is so oppressive; and when the internet arrived, Saudis woke up more. The Crown Prince is trying to move towards a more open society but he's walking a thin line since he doesn't want to infuriate the clerics. The clerics gave their blessing to the Saudi dynasty; and in exchange, the kings try to root out other forms of Islam. It's religion and politics at its worst, and good luck to the Crown Prince trying to sort that out; but he is still a very dictatorial person.
If they are worried about Iran, why are they provoking it by seeking to have their uranium facilities -- getting their uranium from Russia? Do they want Iran to think they're trying to build bombs? That would motivate Iran to build bombs too. Iran had agreed to certain limits -- Trump killed that. Things are worse now, and now Saudi Arabia wants to play with uranium.
Trump’s Policies Have Convinced Iran to Build a More Advanced Nuclear Program Before Negotiating
Trump’s maximal use of sanctions has become a policy overreach that has alarmed both U.S. allies and adversaries, prompting not just concerted diplomatic resistance, but investments in economic countermeasures aimed at circumventing the U.S. dollar’s supremacy in the global financial order. For instance, last month Beijing encouraged Chinese banks to reduce their reliance on the SWIFT network commonly used to conduct transactions, and which is susceptible to U.S. pressure. China is clearly looking to diminish the United States’ ability to pressure adversaries by denying them access to international financial networks. Mounting resistance to U.S. sanctions will make it more difficult for Washington to rally international support to pressure Iran. That would require fewer U.S. sanctions, not more.
The Obama administration used economic sanctions to compel Iran to negotiate a nuclear deal. Trump expected to quickly recreate that formula. This time, however, pressure has given Iran an incentive to resist. Despite greater economic pressure, Trump has only encouraged Iran to redouble its investment in its nuclear program.
Despite greater economic pressure, Trump has only encouraged Iran to redouble its investment in its nuclear program. It has already backed away from a number of its commitments under the nuclear deal and resumed its enrichment activities.
Trump could have taken office and said Obama's deal wasn't good enough. We all know it wasn't the perfect solution; but it was a start since it got Iran moving in the right direction. Trump could have offered Iran goodies and favors if they did more to lessen tensions in the area -- like stopping supporting terrorists. Tell them when we see you are no longer supporting terrorists, we'll reward you. What we have instead is a dangerous increase in tensions in the area, a terrible war with war crimes being committed and pushing Iran so hard it will probably increase its efforts to disrupt other countries by sponsoring terrorism. No wonder Saudi Arabia is nervous. Trump helped make them more nervous -- and we make money at it by selling them arms, making the Iranians more nervous.