Niall Ferguson thinks we have the ridiculous Saudi orb all wrong:
But what was that orb? The answer was: the official launch button for a new Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh. Not a single commentator considered for one second that this might be rather an important departure for the Saudi regime and potentially a real contribution to the campaign of “ideological warfare” that Trump proposed last year.
No one considered this because no one believes that there was any “real departure” on the Saudis’ part, and Trump’s goofy photo-op with the king didn’t change that. Imagine being credulous enough to accept at face value that a Saudi run center for “combating extremist ideology” is useful. At best, it is a show put on for appearances’ sake for the benefit of gullible Western audiences. The purpose of that show is to distract attention from the effects of actual Saudi policies in the surrounding region. It won’t come as a shock that Ferguson doesn’t talk about any of those policies or their effects.
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