The House of Saud Vs. Iran

The Wall Street Journal recently dubbed the escalating war of words between Saudi Arabia and Iran to be an Arab "Cold War". The term in reference to the region was first quoted by historian Malcolm Kerr in the 1970s in speaking to the long war of influence between Egypt's progressive Arab nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and the reactionary elements of the House of Saud let by King Faisal.

iran saudi arabia 9532 KVQqg 19672

Nasser's rhetoric espousing secularism and, to a lesser degree, feminism clashed with the severe obscurantism at the heart of the Saudi kingdom, in the ideology of Wahhabi upheld by the fiercely conservative clerics. Nasser's republic attacked the Arab monarchs as relics of the past and the last emblems of Western colonialism. Nasser imagined a pan-Arab state which would necessitate the demise of Arab regalia. Naturally, the House of Saud sought to counteract the ideals of Arab nationalism.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt both launched competing propaganda, supported rival factions in Lebanon - always the tragic battlefield of Arab powers - and even fought a proxy war in Yemen as Nasser armed the south secessionist socialist rebel while the Saudis backed the royal family in the north.

Nasser lost his war with Saudi Arabia in the end, not because Arabs were enamored by Saudi Arabia more the Egypt. The Saudi kingdom is reviled like no other while Nasser's legacy remains one of hope and aspiration for Arabs. But because of Israel and the devastating loss in 1967 which left the Egyptian military decimated, and Nasser with no choice expect to go cap-in-hand to the Saudis and plead for them to rebuild the Egyptian military. The Saudis agreed on the condition that Nasser cease his war of rhetoric. Saudi oil money now heralded what became known as the Saudi Epoch in regional parlance.

Since the 1970s, Saudi Arab has been a major power, but none like in recent years. The Shah of Iran and Saddam Hussein in bordering Iraq always were polars of power, but both have seen their demise and for awhile it appeared as if a second Saudi Epoch was on hand. But then the Arab revolution happened and one of the Saudi's chief ally, the ally, fell in a stunning show of people power, Lebanon's Saudi-backed government lost its parliamentary majority to an Iranian-backed faction, and the Saudis started to fell pressure at home.

And then comes Iran. The WSJ that the clash is between a "resistance" front championed by the Iranians and "Sunni moderation" led by the Saudi royals. This is fallacious. Iran does not envision any resistance, but purely Persian hegemony. And Saudi Arabia's idea of moderation is beheading someone after sundown because the sun's rays may be harsh on the condemned man or women prior to their execution in a public ritual.

A new Cold War is upon us. Too bad neither side is worth cheering for.