The World

When it comes to the trade off between America’s support for human-rights and its promotion of its security interests, Saudi Arabia is where the rubber hits the road – literally in the case of the Saudi women drivers. Earlier this afternoon, an email arrived in from a group campaigning for support for the brave Saudi women, who in a gesture of civil disobedience, have taken to driving cars around the kingdom. Saudi Arabia, of course, is the only country in the world, where this is actually illegal.

The e-mail was mainly addressed to Hillary Clinton, who has made a point of supporting women’s rights around the world. It asked plaintively – “Where are you?”, adding:  “we write to express our deep concern over the US government’s public silence on the issue of Saudi women’s right to drive.”As it happens, a senior official from the Obama administration was passing through the FT this afternoon, so I took the opportunity to ask him (it was a him) about the driving issue, and about Saudi Arabia in general.

The question of Saudi Arabia, he responded, is, in many ways, one of the toughest issues America is facing. He had been struck by the influence of Saudi text-books all over the Islamic world. (I did not get the impression that he meant this in any positive sense.) All across the Middle East, “events are overtaking everybody. People are demanding dignity, justice and fairness.” However, Saudi Arabia would be “the last stop on the train, because it is a very conservative society.”

Bahrain, as this official saw it, is still a “flashpoint” and is at a “critical point”. He added that – “There are a bunch of things there that are emblematic of broader conflicts in the region.”

I asked whether it was even in America’s interests to push for change in countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, given their strategic importance to the US. There was a good deal of humming-and-hawing about this. My impression was that the person I was speaking to believed that the US is already promoting human-rights and should be pushing harder – but that there is a “lively debate” on the subject within the administration.

As for those Saudi women drivers. Things have been said in private and the US is getting itself into a position, where it might make a statement of support, publicly. Or possibly not.