Join us for a CL Lecture with photojournalist Barry Pell on Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads – Visionary Future or Desert Mirage at 7:30 pm on Zoom. Saudi Arabia, the largest nation on the Arabian Peninsula, has witnessed enormous changes during the last hundred years – notably, the rise in power of strict religious conservatives and untold wealth from the discovery of the world’s largest source of petroleum. The country’s image internationally has suffered in recent decades as the home of most of the September 11th hijackers and Osama Bin Laden, and most recently the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi royal family, who has ruled the country since the 1930s, is now embarked on a new course – reducing the nation’s dependence on oil in part by opening the country for tourism, and eliminating the religious police and severely curtailing the influence of religious leaders. It’s far too early to predict whether this new vision will succeed, but based on the travels of the presenter, Barry Pell, this is an exciting time to observe a country on the cusp of change and to meet its warm and hospitable people.
To join this lecture, click on the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84580696017?pwd=VjAva0hqWmxROGVVR1hGMFRKOThJUT09
To join by phone, dial (646) 558-8656 and enter Meeting ID: 845 8069 6017 and Passcode: 145255
