For Saudi Arabia is a country in which both rulers and ruled are equally arch- conservative, adhering, for the last two centuries, to the puritanical Wahhabi doctrine of Islam. During the last fifty years, repeated attempts by reform-oriented elements to open up Saudi Arabia’s society and polity had failed.
两个世纪以来，沙特阿拉伯的统治者和被统治者遵循着伊斯兰教瓦哈比教派的教条，极其保守，相互依靠。近50年来，把改革因素引入沙特阿拉伯、试图开放沙特阿拉伯的社会和政体的努力从未间断，但是屡战屡败。不过最近全球的民主浪潮已经冲上了这个中世纪沙漠王国的海滩，并再也不能被忽视了。