Saudi Arabia: the king according to Luce. (Dispatches) (column)

Nation, The, June, 1985 by Bird, Kai; Holland, Max

The oil glut has brought an end to the Saudi Era. Many ambitious but still unfinished development projects have been cut way back or eliminated. The political ramifications of the belt-tightening are undoubtedly the subject of many State Department and C.I.A. cables. All the Saudi ministries--as well as the citizenry--will be closely watched for signs of disaffection toward the royal family.

As a reminder of how far the kingdom has traveled in three decades, we provide the following curious report from the pen of Henry Luce. It comes from a memo, written in April 1956, to the editor of Life, Edward Thompson:

So, this is my excuse to give you the latest up to the minute horse's mouth dope on the situation in the royal palace at Jedda. The...

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