Reviews
A brilliant, powerful, no punches pulled account of how our Saudi 'friends,' wallowing in corruption, have used their vast oil wealth to encourage and finance the extremism that now threatens the western world. The Saudis and their friends in Washington will hate this book. Officials who have to contend with the train wreck of Saudi policies will say privately: 'it'sabout time!', Princes of Darkness is not the usual journalistic expos of the House of Saud and its long history with the United States. Laurent Murawiec is instead a philosopher, and his explorations read more like a moral treatise on the corrupting effects of money, power, and high status on a tribal society that has evolved little from its Bedouin days despite its untold billions-and its strange, and ultimately depressing, relationship with the American elite. While nominal partners, the Saudi Royals are hardly friends, and, as Murawiec repeatedly demonstrates, more often enemies of all that the liberal West stands for., Try a thought experiment: that Ferdinand and Isabella's Spain of five centuries ago exists today and is fabulously wealthy from oil--and that Torquemada and his followers are given billions of dollars a year to bring the world under the Spanish Inquisition's sway. We would face a dangerous and determined spread of malignant hatred and cruelty masquerading as religion. As Laurent Murawiec persuasively demonstrates, so we do., Princes of Darkness is not the usual journalistic exposé of the House of Saud and its long history with the United States. Laurent Murawiec is instead a philosopher, and his explorations read more like a moral treatise on the corrupting effects of money, power, and high status on a tribal society that has evolved little from its Bedouin days despite its untold billions-and its strange, and ultimately depressing, relationship with the American elite. While nominal partners, the Saudi Royals are hardly friends, and, as Murawiec repeatedly demonstrates, more often enemies of all that the liberal West stands for., In his now-legendary Pentagon briefing in July 2002, Laurent Murawiec took a major step to break the Washington taboo about speaking the truth about Saudi Arabia. Now, in this insightful and well-written study of the kingdom, he amply documents his argument, concluding with the dramatic recommendation that we 'take Saudi out of Arabia.', Princes of Darkness is an account of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, its procedures, privileges, and abuses of the power and the oil wealth accruing by accident. Politicizing its brand of Islam and responsible for much of the current terrorist violence, Saudi Arabia has long been a danger to itself and others all over the world. Laurent Murawiec throws a bright light on a society that has to reform out of all recognition for the sake of peace and justice, but seemingly has neither the will nor the capacity to do so.
