 Saudi family dynasty  King Faud suffered a stroke in 1995, so Crown Prince Abdullah runs the show  Rigidly traditional political & social system  Wahhabi interpretation of Islam (strict)  Therefore, no need for a constitution  Mistreatment of women & minorities  Dependence on oil revenues keeps its economy overly linked to oil prices  reverse oil crisis in the 1980s caused a drop in oil revenues by ½  Made huge profits during Iran-Iraq war  Dependent on US for protection  ironically, US support for Saudi Arabia's corrupt regime is one reason for Bin Laden's anger at the US
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