[Siamese Princess]

An 8 year old statistic: 85 percent of Saudis attending Saudi universties major in "Islamic Studies".

That, and a dollar, will buy you a 20 oz. soda at the local convenience store. This is dangerous -- a large number of college grads either unemployed or underemployed because they majored in a field of study with no practical application. Their disappointment and frustration is far more likely to lead them to radical politics than someone who never went beyond the Saudi equivalent of the 5th grade and became a tent maker. That person doesn't expect much out of life. This isn't hypothetical -- during the 1970s, Italy had a big problem with the Red Brigade -- largely drawn from unemployed college grads.

Ironically enough, the Saudis are still importing large numbers of Europeans and Americans for management positions and Pakistanis for janitorial jobs.

[haroldeveryman]

(This is dangerous -- a large number of college grads either unemployed or underemployed because they majored in a field of study with no practical application. Their disappointment and frustration is far more likely to lead them to radical politics than someone who never went beyond the Saudi equivalent of the 5th grade and became a tent maker.)

Excellent point about college grads. However, I would add that groups such as Fillipinos and Pakistanis have manned most of the skilled blue collar jobs in Saudi such as electronics technicians, plumbing, auto mechanics, etc.