Decline of the House of Islamic Fundamentalism: Saudi Arabia’s Declining Oil Revenues

In the 1990’s the Saudis needed oil to sell at $20 a barrel (in US dollars) in order to break even. From 2014-2016, oil needed to sell at $80-$100 a barrel to break even. This, combined with the reckless financing of terrorist groups around the world, puts their economy in a very weakened position. When you add the fact that the authoritarian nature of its political rule mobilizes very few of its population to help solve its problems, it produces a recipe for political disaster. As Israel and the Yankees have their own problems, it is hard to imagine Saudi Arabia solving these problems left to their own devices.

About Bruce Lerro

Bruce Lerro has taught for 25 years as an adjunct college professor of psychology at Golden Gate University, Dominican University and Diablo Valley College. He has applied a Vygotskian socio-historical perspective to his five books: "From Earth-Spirits to Sky-Gods: the Socio-ecological Origins of Monotheism, Individualism and Hyper-Abstract Reasoning", "Power in Eden: The Emergence of Gender Hierarchies in the Ancient World" (co-authored with Christopher Chase-Dunn), "Social Change: Globalization from the Stone Age to the Present", "Lucifer's Labyrinth: Individualism, Hyper-Abstract Thinking and the Process of Becoming Civilized", and "The Magickal Enchantment of Materialism: Why Marxists Need Neopaganism". He is also a representational artist specializing in pen-and-ink drawings. Bruce is a libertarian communist and lives in Olympia, WA.

View all posts by Bruce Lerro →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *