In the event of war, probably Saudi Arabia will facilitate some certain logistics to make the operation easier for the United States, but actually, the United States does not need Saudi territories to launch a war against Iraq.
— Jamal Khashoggi
The international community should pressure Iran to get the Houthis to agree to some peaceful understanding in Yemen. But at the same time, Saudi Arabia also needs to believe truly in democracy for Yemen.
Sometimes, I myself, even though I'm in Washington, I go quiet because there is so much intimidation around me.
It is good that the Canadians are raising the flag among Western countries to raise the issue of human rights abuse throughout the Middle East.
The condition that the Taliban part with al Qaeda is not just a condition, it is an objective. We must convince them that al Qaeda ideology and dogma will not help them.
I don't want to be a dissident. But in the same time, I don't want to go back home and be silent again.
Saudi Arabia is the mother and father of political Islam.
The Arab Spring is a true phenomenon. Embrace Arab Spring; embrace the aspiration for freedom of the people of Egypt, Syria, and Yemen.
The core principle of Wahhabism is anti-diverse.
I'm not an extremist. And I disagree with Saudis who are calling for regime change and stuff like that.
The impulsivity of M. B. S. has been a consistent theme - from the war in Yemen to the wave of arrests of constructive critics, royals, and senior officials accused of corruption.
I always found it ironic when a Saudi official bashes Islamists, given that Saudi Arabia is the mother of all political Islam - and even describes itself as an Islamic state in its 'Higher Law.'
In 2004, Lawrence Wright wrote in the 'New Yorker' about 'The Kingdom of Silence,' where a massive sewer project in Jeddah was really a series of manhole covers across the city with no actual pipes underneath. I, as the editor of a major paper at the time, can say that we all knew - and we never reported on it.
Saudi Arabia has historically attempted to influence politics in Beirut.
When Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen erupted in March 2015, there was widespread Saudi popular support for it - including by me.
The death of Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh shows that Saudi Arabia is paying for its betrayal of the Arab spring in Yemen in 2011.
Writers like me, whose criticism is offered respectfully, seem to be considered more dangerous than the more strident Saudi opposition based in London.
There are many signs that the Egyptians are prioritising their relations with the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, over their relations with Iran.
To destroy the Islamic State, you have to fix Syria. You have to look at the reasons that created the Islamic State. This is a huge task.
More attention should be given to the Arab world and the human rights abuse that is taking place every day in many countries in the Arab world.
I would like to see evolution in my country, not revolution. It is much better for us to work together with the government to transform Saudi Arabia for the future.
The expectation that 'Trump as president' will be starkly different from 'Trump as candidate' is a false hope at best.
The Iranian state sponsors radicalism.
Osama bin Laden's hijacked planes not only attacked the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They also attacked Islam as a faith. They attacked the values of tolerance and coexistence that Islam preaches.
That is what I want: I want a better Saudi Arabia. I don't see myself as an opposition. I'm not calling for the overthrow of the regime, because I know it's not possible and is too risky, and there is no one to overthrow the regime. I'm just calling for reform of the regime.
I just want to be a free writer. I think I am serving my country and my people by providing an independent narrative.
I often get attacked in Saudi Arabia, but the critics don't ridicule my ideas. There were about 30 or 40 articles attacking me in the Saudi press. Not a single one debated something I wrote. They just ridiculed me as a person. They see me as a traitor who is writing in the foreign press. But discuss what I am writing? They will not.
I'm worried for a war to break out between Saudi Arabia and Iran, even though I rule it out.
In 2003 and again in 2010, I was fired from my job as editor-in-chief of a 'progressive' paper, Al-Watan. During the years in between, I served as media adviser to Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to Britain and then the United States.
Corruption in Saudi Arabia is quite different from corruption in most other countries, as it is not limited to a 'bribe' in return for a contract, or expensive gift for the family member of a government official or prince, or use of a private jet that is charged to the government so a family can go on vacation.
I strongly supported the war against Houthi rebels because I saw them as the antithesis of the Arab Spring that my government, unlike me, fiercely opposed.
I knew Saleh well, having interviewed and met with him several times. He was a professional Machiavelli, fluent in all forms for political maneuvering.
If Mohammed bin Salman wants to deal properly with corruption, he must preserve two elements vital to the Saudi economy: trust in the state and the role of national companies.
Women today should have the same rights as men. And all citizens should have the right to speak their minds without fear of imprisonment.
It should be a known fact that the Arabs never had a problem with anti-Semitism, but we need to state that over and over again.
I don't want anything to affect my freedom, and we don't want Saudi Arabia to be another Iran.
Saudi Arabia needs friends. We are in a war in Yemen, in a confrontation with Iran, so we need friends like Canada, Europe.
I'm 60 years old, and I want to enjoy life, and I want to be free to speak for my country.
We are not a failed Arab republic, so we should not fear Arab Spring. We should embrace Arab Spring. That's what I hope Saudi Arabia will do.
Saudi Arabia must return to fully supporting the Syrian revolution and to ally with the Turks.
The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power.
The government of Dubai, as much as it is a government, it is a corporation.
I really don't like being in jail.
I began to feel whatever narrow space I had in Saudi Arabia was getting narrower. I thought it would be better to get out and be safe.
I have left my home, my family, and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.
When I speak of the fear, intimidation, arrests, and public shaming of intellectuals and religious leaders who dare to speak their minds, and then I tell you that I'm from Saudi Arabia, are you surprised?
I champion a real campaign to tackle the rampant corruption that is draining Saudi resources, both financial and human.
By facilitating a peace agreement and leading the reinvestment and reconstruction in Yemen, Saudi Arabia can turn around a failed state and bolster its standing as a global and regional leader.
Everyone knew that Saleh and the Houthis were a marriage of convenience. He was a dictator; the Houthis are ideologues who want to impose their fundamentalist vision. Neither cared for the core values of the Arab Spring - representative, accountable governance.
As a Saudi journalist starting my career right after the oil boom of the 1970s, I witnessed the phenomenal growth and expansion of Saudi businesses and the pivotal role the leaders of these firms played in building the modern Saudi economy.
